*KRY  Of  WNCerfis 


Logical  st*'^> 


•  1U>\ 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2010  with  funding  from 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


http://www.archive.org/details/graceofchristorsOOplum 


THE 


GRACE  OF  CHRIST, 


SINNERS   SAVED 


BY 


UNMERITED    KINDNESS 
/ 

BY  WM.  S.  PLUMER,  D.D. 


We  believe  that  through  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  we  shall  be  3aved 
even  as  they." — Acts  xv.  11. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
PRESBYTERIAN  BOARD  OF  PUBLICATION. 

NO.    265   CHESTNUT    STSEET. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1853,  by 

A.    W .    MITCHELL,    M .  D . 

in  the  Office  of  the  Clerk  of  the  District  Court  of  the  Eastern  District 
of  Pennsvlvania. 


Stereotyped  by  Slote    &  Mooney,  Philadelphia. 


Wm.    S .   Martien,  Printer. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE 

Introduction 7 

CHAPTER  II. 
All  Men  are  Sinners 13 

CHAPTER   in. 
Sin  is  a  great  Evil 20 

CHAPTER  IV. 
How  the  pious  regard  Sin  in  themselves  and  in  others..  26 

CHAPTER  V. 
The  Heart  of  Man  is  all  wrong '. 32 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Wicked  Men  are  like  wicked  Angels 36 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Man  is  utterly  helpless 40 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Without  divine  grace,  Men  can  do  nothing  but  sin 62 

CHAPTER  IX. 
The  Corruption  of  Man  is  hereditary 63 

CHAPTER  X. 
Men  are  guilty — Imputation  of  Adam's  sin — Actual  sins 74 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Self-righteousness  is  worthless — Man  needs  a  Saviour 85 

(iii) 


IV  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XII. 

PAGE 

The  true  notion  of  Grace 91 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
The  Properties  of  Grace — it  ie  free,  sufficient,  unselfish,  rich 

in  Blessings 9G 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
God's  Grace  is  also  of  great  Antiquity,  sovereign  and  distin- 
guishing   101 

CHAPTER  XV. 
God's  Purpose  of  Grace 108 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
God's  Word  teaches  the  Doctrines  of  Grace — The  Fathers  also.  121 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

What  the  Martyrs  thought— The  Reformers— Other  good  Men.  128 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
The  Grace  of  Christ  not   different  from   that  of  the  Father 

or  of  the  Spirit 136 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
No  Salvation  but  by  a  Redeemer,  and  no  Redeemer  but  Christ.  139 

CHAPTER  XX. 
The  Constitution  of  Christ's  Person — His  Grace  therein 150 

CHAPTER  XXL 
The  Work  and  Sufferings  of  Christ — his   active  and  passive 

Obedience 164 

CHAPTER  XXII. 
The  Death  of  Christ — the  Atonement 175 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 
Justification  before  God 191 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 
Justification — the  Pardon  of  Sin  by  Christ's  Blood 199 


CONTENTS.  V 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

PAGE 

Justification — Acceptance  in  Christ 206 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

Justification — Christ's  Righteousness  is  imputed  to  Believers.  214 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Justification — Imputed  Righteousness— Additional  Testimonies.  228 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 
The  Oflice  of  Eaith  in  Justification 243 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 
Why  good  Works  are  necessary 253 

CHAPTER  XXX. 
Regeneration 261 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 
Sanctification 274 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 
Sanctification,  continued 282 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 
Relative  Duties 288 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 
Temptation — How  to  treat  it 293 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 
The  Power  of  divine  Grace  to  console 301 

CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

Afflictions  of  the  righteous— Sayings — Promises 308 

CHAPTER  XXXVII. 
The  righteous  shall  hold  on  his  Way 317 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 
The  Abbreviation  of  human  Life 325 


VI  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

paob 
The  Believer's  Victory  over  Death— The  Martyrs 332 

CHAPTER  XL. 
Same  Subject — Other  Examples,  ancient  and  modern 340 

CHAPTER  XLI. 
Same  Subject — Females — Missionaries 351 

CHAPTER  XLII. 
The  Immortality  of  the  Soul 359 

CHAPTER  XLIII. 
The  happy  State  of  God's  People  immediately  after  Death 366 

CHAPTER  XLIV. 
The  Resurrection  of  Life 375 

CHAPTER  XLV. 
The  final  Judgment 385 

CHAPTER  XLVI. 
Eternal  Glory 399 

CHAPTER  XLVII. 
All  Honour  is  due  to  Christ 407 

CHAPTER  XLVIII. 

Christians  long  to  see  Christ 414 

CHAPTER  XLIX. 

The  Danger  of  rejecting  Salvation 421 

CHAPTER  L. 

The  Wonders  of  Grace  'will  never  cease 428 

CHAPTER  LI. 

The  Offers  of  free  Grace  are  to  all  indiscriminately 432 

CHAPTER  LIT. 

The  Doctrine  of  free  Grace  is  safe  and  reforms  Sinners 440 

CHAPTER  LIII. 
The  Conclusion— An  Offer  of  Life  made  to  the  perishing 449 


THE 


GRACE   OF    CHRIST 


CHAPTER  I 


INTRODUCTION. 


Is  salvation  by  grace,  or  is  it  of  debt  ?  Did  God 
owe  it  to  man  to  provide  for  him  a  Saviour  ?  Do 
men  deserve  all  the  wrath  revealed  from  heaven  against 
ungodliness  ?  Is  the  sentence  of  condemnation  just  ? 
Cannot  human  merits  avail  something  towards  eternal 
happiness  ?  Is  man  able  to  turn  himself  to  God  and 
subdue  his  own  sins  ?  Is  the  ruin  of  the  soul  by  sin 
partial,  or  total  ?  Are  men  very  far  gone  from  right- 
eousness before  divine  grace  renews  them  ?  When 
Christ  came,  what  did  he  do  and  suffer  for  us  ?  How 
does  his  mediation  avail  for  the  lost  ?  Is  there  mercy 
for  all,  who  come  to  God  through  Jesus  Christ  ?  Are 
the  provisions  of  the  gospel  suited  to  the  wants  of 
men  ?  Is  salvation  necessary  ?  Is  it  infinitely  im- 
portant ?     Is  it  possible  ? 

These  and  many  similar  questions  are  continually 
undergoing  discussion.     In  fact  they  are  themes  well 

(?) 


8  INTRODUCTION. 

worthy  of  the  closest  and  most  solemn  inquiry.  They 
are  of  paramount  and  universal  interest.  He,  who 
seeks  not  the  truth  in  these  matters,  must  be  found 
guilty  of  criminal  recklessness.  Whatever  else  may 
claim  his  attention,  here  are  matters  of  still  higher 
importance.  These  things  pertain  to  the  well-being 
of  man  and  the  honour  of  God.  They  lay  hold  of 
eternity.  No  man  ever  gave  up  his  mind  with  too 
much  candour,  with  undue  love  of  truth, or  with  exces- 
sive earnestness  to  the  investigation  of  the  Scriptures 
on  themes  of  so  vast  moment. 

It  ought  not  to  be  denied  that  there  are  difficulties 
in  the  way  of  every  inquirer.  The  prejudices  of  men 
are  strong  and  their  passions  violent.  These  mightily 
hinder  our  reception  of  the  truth.  The  world  also  is 
full  of  error.  Men  love  darkness  rather  than  light. 
The  friends  of  sound  doctrine  are  often  both  timid  and 
supine.  The  propagators  of  false  notions  are  lively 
and  confident.  It  is  easy  to  embrace  error.  To 
know  the  right  way  demands  patience,  inquiry,  humi- 
lity. The  great  things  of  God  are  not  to  be  learned 
by  those  who  restrain  prayer.  How  few  men  are 
found  crying,  "  Open  thou  mine  eyes,  that  I  may 
behold  wondrous  things  out  of  thy  law  !" 

Yet  it  is  possible  by  the  aid  of  God's  word  and 
Spirit  to  learn  the  truth  on  all  these  matters.  Thou- 
sands have  made  that  great  attainment.  They  have 
lived  long  lives  and  died  in  the  possession  and  profes- 
sion of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  When  God  bids  us 
search  the  Scriptures,  he  sends  us  not  on  a  fool's 
errand,  nor  commands  an  impossible  task.  Indeed  it 
is  a  part  of  God's  plan  concerning  his  people  that  "  we 
all  come  in  the  unity  of  the  faith,  and  of  the  know- 


INTRODUCTION.  9 

ledge  of  the  Son  of  God,  unto  a  perfect  man,  unto  the 
stature  of  the  fulness  of  Christ :  that  we  henceforth  be 
no  more  children,  tossed  to  and  fro,  and  carried  about 
with  every  wind  of  doctrine,  by  the  sleight  of  men, 
and  cunning  craftiness,  whereby  they  lie  in  wait  to 
deceive."  Eph.  iv.  13,  14.  And  so  it  has  happened 
that  from  the  first  founding  of  the  Church  of  God, 
those,  who  gave  the  best  evidence  of  being  taught  of 
God,  have  remarkably  agreed  in  the  great  truths  of 
religion.  The  matters  on  which  they  have  fully  har- 
monized have  been  like  the  continents  and  larger 
islands  of  our  globe,  while  those,  on  which  they  have 
doubted  or  differed,  may  be  compared  to  the  lesser  is- 
lands'of  the  sea,  many  of  which  are  but  barren  rocks 
or  beds  of  sand.  This  has  been  demonstrably  true 
since  the  founding  of  the  Christian  Church.  The 
abundant  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit  was  the  first 
glorious  event  succeeding  the  ascension  of  Christ. 
The  second  was  the  calling  of  the  Gentiles,  and  the 
opening  of  a  wide  and  effectual  door  to  their  conver- 
sion. This  was  hailed  with  joy  by  the  truly  pious 
portion  of  the  Jewish  nation.  "When  Peter  gave  them 
an  account  of  the  commencement  of  this  work,  "  they 
glorified  God,  saying,  Then  hath  God  also  to  the  Gen- 
tiles granted  repentance  unto  life."  Acts  xi.  18.  This 
is  what  we  should  naturally  expect.  If  a  man  loves 
God,  whom  he  has  not  seen,  he  is  sure  to  love  his  bro- 
ther, whom  he  has  seen.  He,  who  in  his  heart  glori- 
fies Christ,  will  desire  that  all  men  should  do  the  same. 
A  converted  man,  who  had  no  joy  at  seeing  sinners 
coming  to  Christ,  would  be  a  monster,  such  as  has 
never  yet  appeared.  The  bringing  in  of  the  Gentiles 
gave  rise  to  questions,  the  settlement  of  which  required 


10  INTRODUCTION. 

the  calling  of  a  Synod,  consisting  of  apostles,  elders 
and  brethren.  The  chief  matter  before  the  council 
respected  the  relation  of  the  converts  from  paganism 
to  the  ceremonial  law  of  Moses.  But  in  his  address 
Peter  gave  a  summary  of  the  faith  of  himself  and  of 
his  brethren.  These  are  his  words  :  "  We  believe  that 
through  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  we  shall 
be  saved  even  as  they."  Concerning  the  method  and 
Author  of  salvation  there  was  among  them  no  disagree- 
ment. He  therefore  speaks  for  all,  "We  believe;" 
and  he  says  there  is  but  one  scheme  of  mercy  for  Jew 
and  Gentile.  "We"  and  "they"  relate  to  the  Israel- 
ites and  the  pagans.  Christ  broke  down  the  middle 
wall  of  partition  between  them,  abolishing  their  old 
mutual  enmity  by  his  cross,  and  making  them  one  in 
him.  His  church  is  not  provincial  or  national,  but 
catholic  or  universal.  It  is  not  confined  to  any  one 
people,  but  was  intended  for  the  whole  race,  and  em- 
braces all  true  believers. 

Thus  Simon  Peter  expressed  the  faith  of  the  church 
of  Christ  nineteen  years  after  our  Lord's  ascension  to 
glory.  Whatever  reluctance  some  have  had  to  pub- 
lishing their  creed,  the  apostles  had  none.  Their 
great  object  was  to  let  men  know  what  and  why  they 
believed.  There  is  no  solid  argument  against  the  use 
of  doctrinal  formulas,  long  or  short,  if  they  are  sound, 
scriptural,  and  well-understood.  They  should  express 
the  truth  in  clear  terms,  and  be  honestly  held  before 
they  are  professed.  "  Prove  all  things  ;  hold  fast  that 
which  is  good."  1  Thess.  v.  21.  "Hold  fast  the  form 
of  sound  words,  which  thou  hast  heard  of  me,  in  faith 
and  love  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus."  2  Tim.  i.  13. 
The  salvation  of  the  gospel  is  common  to  all,  who  are 


INTRODUCTION.  11 

"sanctified  by  God  the  Father,  preserved  in  Jesus 
Christ,  and  called."  Jude  3.  In  this  first  Synod  we 
have  the  Christian  faith  in  epitome. 

From  that  age  to  the  present,  the  true  faith  has 
often  been  obscured,  marred  and  corrupted  by  many, 
yet  it  has  always  won  the  love  and  confidence  of  per- 
sons and  communities,  just  in  proportion  as  they  loved 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  abounded  in  the  knowledge 
of  his  salvation.  At  times  it  has  seemed  as  if  all  the 
world  would  soon  be  drunken  with  the  sorcery  of  fatal 
error.  But  when  the  enemy  has  come  in  like  a  flood, 
the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  has  lifted  up  a  standard  against 
him;  and  the  cause  of  truth  and  righteousness  has 
revived. 

As  the  character  of  this  work  is  not  polemic  but 
practical,  the  references  to  books  and  pages  are  en- 
tirely omitted  in  the  margin.  The  form  of  the  work 
is  popular,  not  scientific.  It  is  designed  not  for  the 
few,  but  for  the  masses.  The  chief  object  aimed  at  is 
to  lead  men  to  the  foot  of  the  cross,  to  encourage  them 
to  make  Christ  all  and  in  all,  to  seek  no  other  way  of 
mercy  but  by  the 'Redeemer,  to  satisfy  all,  who  revere 
God's  word,  of  the  perfect  safety  of  a  soul  resting  on 
the  grace  of  Christ,  and  on  that  alone  for  all  it  needs 
for  its  complete  deliverance  from  sin  and  misery,  and 
so  to  comfort  all  that  mourn  for  sin,  give  courage  to 
the  timid  but  real  disciple  of  Christ,  and  ultimately  to 
give  all  the  glory  to  him,  to  whom  it  belongs. 

If  men  are  saved  by  grace,  it  is  because  they  need 
mercy  ;  and  if  men  are  sinners  they  require  a  Saviour. 
The  first  subject  therefore  in  this  treatise  is  the  extent 
of  the  wants  of  men.  The  second  is  the  supply  of 
those  wants  in  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 


12  INTRODUCTION. 

The  remainder  of  the  work  is  taken  up  in  considering 
some  things  growing  out  of  the  preceding  discussions. 
May  He,  to  whom  we  owe  all  that  is  pleasant  in  our 
history,  and  all  that  is  animating  in  our  prospects, 
graciously  own  this  book,  and  bless  its  pages  to  the 
enlightening,  comforting,  edifying  and  saving  of  many 
souls. 


CHAPTER    II. 


ALL    MEN   ARE   SINNERS. 


Jews  and  Gentiles,  Greeks  and  Barbarians,  bond 
and  free,  are  sinners.  If  they  are  not,  they  need  not 
mercy  but  mere  justice.  Yet  inspired  men  never 
preached  the  doctrine  of  human  innocence.  They  all 
knew  and  taught  just  the  reverse.  In  the  first  chapter 
of  his  epistle  to  the  Romans,  Paul  clearly  proves  that 
the  Gentiles  are  sinners :  "  When  they  knew  God, 
they  glorified  him  not  as  God,  neither  were  thankful, 
but  became  vain  in  their  imaginations,  and  their  foolish 
heart  was  darkened.  Professing  themselves  to  be  wise, 
they  became  fools ;  and  changed  the  glory  of  the  in- 
corruptible God  into  an  image  made  like  to  corruptible 
man,  and  to  birds,  and  four-footed  beasts,  and  creep- 
ing things.  Wherefore  God  also  gave  them  up  to  un- 
cjeanness  through  the  lusts  of  their  own  hearts,  to 
dishonour  their  own  bodies  between  themselves ;  who 
changed  the  truth  of  God  into  a  lie,  and  worshipped 
and  served  the  creature  more  than  the  Creator,  who  is 
blessed  for  ever.  Amen.  For  this  cause  God  gave 
them  up  to  vile  affections.  *  *  *  And  even  as  they  did 
not  like  to  retain  God  in  their  knowledge,  God  gave 
them  up  to  a  reprobate  mind  to  do  those  things  which 
are  not  convenient ;  being  filled  with  all  unrighteous- 
ness, fornication,  wickedness,  covetousness,  malicious- 
ness ;  full  of  envy,  murder,  debate,  deceit,  malignity, 
2  (13) 


14  ALL   MEN  ARE   SINNERS. 

•whisperers,  backbiters,  haters  of  God,  despiteful,  proud, 
boasters,  inventors  of  evil  things,  disobedient  to  pa- 
rents, without  understanding,  covenant-breakers,  with- 
out natural  affection,  implacable,  unmerciful ;  who 
knowing  the  judgment  of  God,  that  they  which  com- 
mit such  things  are  worthy  of  death,  not  only  do  the 
same,  but  have  pleasure  in  them  that  do  them." 
Could  reasoning  be  more  sound  and  conclusive? 
There  is  no  way  of  escaping  its  force.  Beyond  a 
question  the  Gentiles  are  sinners. 

In  the  third  chapter  of  the  same  epistle  Paul  shows 
that  all  men,  not  excepting  the  Jews,  are  sinners ; 
"  What  then  ?  are  we  [Jews]  better  than  they  [Gen- 
tiles] ?  No,  in  no  wise :  for  we  have  before  proved 
both  Jews  and  Gentiles,  that  they  are  all  under  sin ; 
as  it  is  written,  There  is  none  righteous,  no,  not  one. 
There  is  none  that  understandeth,  there  is  none  that 
seeketh  after  God.  They  are  all  gone  out  of  the  way ; 
they  are  together  become  unprofitable ;  there  is  none 
that  doeth  good,  no,  not  one.  Their  throat  is  an  open 
sepulchre  ;  with  their  tongues  they  have  used  deceit ; 
the  poison  of  asps  is  under  their  lips ;  whose  mouth  is 
full  of  cursing  and  bitterness.  Their  feet  are  swift  to 
shed  blood.  Destruction  and  misery  are  in  their 
ways ;  and  the  way  of  peace  have  they  not  knowrn. 
There  is  no  fear  of  God  before  their  eyes."  More 
direct  or  cogent  reasoning  is  no  where  found.  It 
covers  all  cases.  As  a  fair  inference  from  it  the  apos- 
tle says,  every  mouth  must  be  stopped,  and  all  the 
world  stand  guilty  before  God,  and  that  by  the  deeds 
of  the  law  there  shall  no  flesh  be  justified  in  his  sight. 
No  man  will  deny  that  our  views  of  human  guilt  or 
innocence,  human  merit  or  demerit,  will  materially  mo- 


ALL   MEN   ARE    SINNERS.  15 

dify  all  our  views  in  religion.  This  doctrine  of  the 
sinfulness  of  man  is  therefore,  if  true,  very  important, 
and  so  it  may  be  well  to  look  further  at  the  arguments 
by  which  it  is  maintained.  If  men  are  enemies  of 
God,  it  is  high  time  they  should  know  it.  "What  then 
is  the  testimony  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  other  parts  of 
Scripture  ?  It  is  peculiarly  clear  :  "  There  is  no  man 
that  sinneth  not."  1  Kings  viii.  46.  "If  (God)  will 
contend  with  (man),  he  cannot  answer  one  of  a  thou- 
sand." Job  ix.  3.  "Enter  not  into  judgment  with 
thy  servant,  for  in  thy  sight  shall  no  man  living  be 
justified."  Psa.  cxliii.  2.  "  There  is  not  a  just  man 
upon  earth  that  doeth  good  and  sinneth  not."  Ecc.  vii. 
20.  "  If  we  say  that  we  have  no  sin,  we  deceive  our- 
selves and  the  truth  is  not  in  us."  "  If  we  say  that  we 
have  not  sinned,  we  make  him  a  liar,  and  his  word  is 
not  in  us."  1  John  i.  8,  10.  In  all  the  range  of  sober 
writings  on  serious  matters,  where  can  you  find  more 
pointed  and  explicit  declarations  ?  Wrho  dare  take  up 
the  challenge  of  the  wise  man,  when  he  says :  "  Who 
can  say,  I  have  made  my  heart  clean,  I  am  pure  from 
my  sin  ?".  Prov.  xx.  9.  "  The  heart  of  the  sons  of  men 
is  full  of  evil,  and  madness  is  in  their  heart  while  they 
live  ;  and  after  that  they  go  to  the  dead."  Ecc.  ix.  3. 
"  The  whole  world  lieth  in  wickedness."  1  John  v.  19. 
"  In  many  things  we  offend  all."  James  iii.  2. 

The  Scriptures  speak  a  language  no  less  distinct  re- 
specting our  sins  of  omission.  "  All  have  sinned  and 
come  short  of  the  glory  of  God."  Rom.  iii.  23.  In 
Christ's  account  of  the  final  judgment  in  Matt.  xxv. 
42 — 46,  the  only  sins  charged  upon  the  wicked  are 
sins  of  omission.  "  I  was  a  hungered  and  ye  gave  me 
no  meat ;  I  was  thirsty  and  ye  gave  me  no  drink,"  &c. 


16  ALL   MEN   ARE   SINNERS. 

In  that  solemn  scene  on  the  last  night  of  Belshazzar's 
life,  when  Daniel  was  called  in  as  it  were  to  pronounce 
sentence  on  the  royal  offender,  one  of  his  charges,  and 
one  that  has  a  fearful  significance  was,  "  Thou  hast  not 
humbled  thyself."  Another  still  more  comprehensive 
was,  "  The  God  in  whose  hand  thy  breath  is,  and 
whose  are  all  thy  ways,  hast  thou  not  glorified."  Dan. 
v.  22,  23.  If  in  reviewing  the  guilt  of  such  a  mon- 
ster of  depravity  as  Belshazzar,  such  prominence  was 
due  to  the  neglect  of  duty,  it  is  easy  to  see  what  must 
be  the  vast  amount  of  sin  of  omission  among  men 
generally.  The  law  is,  "  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord 
thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and 
with  all  thy  strength,  and  with  all  thy  mind:  and 
thy  neighbour  as  thyself."  This  law  is  infinitely 
holy,  just  and  good.  Where  is  the  living  man  that 
ever  met  these  righteous  demands  even  for  an  hour  ? 
Men  must  all  be  sinners,  or  they  could  not  be  so  defi- 
cient in  obedience  to  this  fundamental  law  of  God's 
empire.  Never  was  a  complaint  more  just,  or  a  re- 
buke more  timely  than  when  God  says :  "  If  I  be  a 
father,  where  is  my  honour  ?  and  if  I  be  a  master, 
where  is  my  fear  ?"  Mai.  i.  6.  "Man,  if  his  heart 
were  not  depraved,  might  have  had  a  disposition  to 
gratitude  to  God  for  his  goodness,  in  proportion  to  his 
disposition  to  anger  towards  men  for  their  injuries.'1 
Who  will  say  that  any  such  proportion  is  observed  ? 

Such  was  the  corruption  of  the  entire  race  of  man 
that  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  destroyed  the  world, 
one  family  alone  excepted,  with  a  deluge.  The  reason 
assigned  by  God  himself  for  this  terrific  judgment  was 
the  wickedness  of  men :  "  My  Spirit  shall  not  always 
strive  with  man."    "  And  God  saw  that  the  wickedness 


ALL   MEN   ARE   SINNERS.  17 

of  man  was  great  in  the  earth,  and  that  every  imagi- 
nation of  the  thoughts  of  his  heart  was  only  evil  con- 
tinually. And  it  repented  the  Lord  that  he  had  made 
man  on  the  earth,  and  it  grieved  him  at  his  heart." 
"  And  God  looked  upon  the  earth,  and  behold,  it  was 
corrupt;  for  all  flesh  had  corrupted  his  way  on  the 
earth."  Gen.  vi.  3,  5,  6,  12.  If  man  naturally  loved 
holiness  and  goodness,  one  would  have  said  that  the 
length  of  life  in  the  ante-diluvian  ages  would  have 
been  very  favourable  to  the  establishment  of  indivi- 
duals and  communities  in  all  virtues  and  moral  excel- 
lencies. Instead  of  this,  "  the  earth  was  corrupt  be- 
fore God,  and  the  earth  was  filled  with  violence." 
Gen.  vi.  11.  Longevity  wrought  misery  to  man  and 
dishonour  to  God.  The  destruction  of  the  old  world 
was  either  just  or  unjust.  If  any  say  it  was  unjust, 
they  blasphemously  impeach  God's  character.  If  they 
admit  that  it  was  just,  then  they  say  it  was  deserved, 
and  so  admit  that  human  wickedness  is  dreadful. 

There  is  no  candid  reader  of  the  Scriptures,  who 
will  deny  that  one  of  the  duties  urged  in  God's  word 
upon  all  men  is  that  of  repentance.  But  can  that 
duty  be  incumbent  on  the  pure  and  holy  ?  Is  it  not 
worse  than  mere  folly  to  call  on  those  to  repent,  who 
have  nothing  to  repent  of,  to  require  men  to  be  sorry 
for  having  committed  no  sin,  to  change  their  mind  and 
behaviour  concerning  their  unfaltering  obedience  to 
God  ?  To  ask  a  holy  being  to  repent  is  to  call  on  him 
to  apostatize  from  God.  In  like  manner  the  Scrip- 
tures call  on  men  to  confess  their  sins  and  to  forsake 
them,  promising  mercy  to  such.  But  have  sinless  an- 
gels ever  been  called  to  such  work  ?  Is  it  not  absurd 
to  require  such  things  of  the  innocent  ?  For  a  man 
2* 


18  ALL   MEN   ARE   SINNERS. 

to  confess  a  fault  which  he  never  committed  is  a  gra- 
tuitous falsehood,  an  insult  to  God.  So  also  in  prayer 
we  are  taught  to  say,  "Forgive  us  our  debts."  How 
idle  to  plead  for  mercy,  when  we  need  nothing  but 
sheer  justice  ;  to  beg  for  forgiveness,  when  we  are 
chargeable  with  no  offence  ! 

Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles  often  speak  of  men  as 
condemned,  as  under  wrath,  as  liable  to  death.  How 
can  this  be  so,  unless  men  deserve  these  things  ?  But 
if  they  deserve  them,  they  are  sinners.  In  short,  no 
such  book  of  contradictions  and  extravagancies  can  be 
found  as  the  Bible,  unless  man  is  a  sinner.  Bloody 
sacrifices  are  wholly  unfit  to  be  offered  for  the  sinless. 
If  men  are  all  innocent,  Jesus  Christ  redeemed  no  one 
by  his  blood,  for  the  .  reason  that  no  one  needed  re- 
demption. If  men  are  not  sinners,  the  Holy  Ghost 
never  could  convict  them  of  sin,  nor  convert  them  from 
sin ;  and  so  the  entire  gospel  would  be  glad  tidings  to 
no  one.  If  men  are  not  sinners,  the  preaching  of 
Peter  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  of  Paul  on  Mars  Hill, 
and  of  all  others,  who  have  held  forth  the  truths  of  the 
Gospel  was  a  cruel  aggravation  of  human  miseries, 
which  nothing  could  justify.  If  men  are  innocent,  all 
urgency,  yea  all  concern  about  salvation  is  fanaticism. 
But  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  whenever  men's  in- 
terests clash,  when  controversies  arise,  when  litigations 
commence,  they  always  regard  each  other  as  sinful. 
Nor  is  this  all.  Every  good  man,  whom  the  world  has 
ever  seen,  has  pronounced  on  his  own  case  that  he  was 
not  innocent.  David  said,  "  I  have  sinned  against  the 
Lord."  Isaiah  said,  "  Woe  is  me,  for  I  am  a  man  of 
unclean  lips."  Job  said,  "  Behold  I  am  vile."  Peter 
said,  UI  am  a  sinful  man."     Paul  said,  "I  am  the 


ALL   MEN   ARE   SINNERS.  19 

chief  of  sinners."  Surely  if  converted  and  inspired 
men  so  judged  of  their  case,  in  a  word,  if  the  best  men 
the  world  ever  saw  were  sinners,  all  men  must  be  alien- 
ated from  God.  One  reason  for  admitting  this  doc- 
trine is  that  it  is  true.  This  is  the  grand  reason  for 
admitting  any  doctrine  and  should  end  all  controversy 
about  it.  But  we  may  well  remember  that  whatever 
humbles  us,  and  causes  us  to  take  our  place  in  the  dust 
before  God  is  good  for  us  and  is  probably  true.  The 
right  place  for  sinners  is  one  of  deep  self-abasement. 
It  is  also  important  to  us  never  to  forget  that  in  de- 
nying our  lost  and  miserable  condition  we  do  thereby 
refuse  Christ  and  all  his  mercies.  "Till  our  necessi- 
ties be  understood,  redemption  cannot  be  well  under- 
stood." "  That  is  the  reason  we  are  no  better,  because 
our  disease  is  not  perfectly  known :  that  is  the  reason 
we  are  no  better,  because  we  know  not  how  bad  we 
are."  If  there  is  no  sin,  there  can  be  no  salvation. 
If  we  are  not  great  sinners,  Christ  is  not  a  great 
Saviour. 


CHAPTER    III 


SIN   IS   A   GREAT   EVIL. 


Tell  me  what  you  think  of  sin,  and  I  will  tell  you 
what  you  think  of  God,  of  Christ,  of  the  Spirit,  of  the 
divine  law,  of  the  blessed  Gospel,  and  of  all  necessary 
truth.  He,  who  looks  upon  sin  merely  as  a  fiction, 
as  a  misfortune,  or  as  a  trifle,  sees  no  necessity  either 
for  deep  repentance  or  a  great  atonement.  He,  who 
sees  no  sin  in  himself,  will  feel  no  need  of  a  Saviour. 
He,  who  is  conscious  of  no  evil  at  work  in  his  heart, 
will  desire  no  change  of  nature.  He,  who  regards  sin 
as  a  slight  affair,  will  think  a  few  tears,  or  an  outward 
reformation  ample  satisfaction.  The  truth  is,  no  man 
ever  thought  himself  a  greater  sinner  before  God  than 
lie  really  was.  Nor  was  any  man  ever  more  distressed 
at  his  sins  than  he  had  just  cause  to  be.  He,  who 
never  felt  it  to  be  "  an  evil  and  a  bitter  thing 
to  depart  from  God,"  is  to  this  hour  an  enemy  of 
his  Maker,  a  rebel  against  his  rightful  and  righteous 
Sovereign. 

When  God  speaks  of  the  evil  of  sin  it  is  in  such 
language  as  this  :  "  Be  astonished,  0  ye  heavens,  at 
this,  and  be  horribly  afraid ;  be  ye  very  desolate,  saith 
the  Lord.     For  my  people  have  committed  two  evils  : 

(20) 


SIN   IS  A   GREAT   EVIL.  21 

they  have  forsaken  me  the  fountain  of  living  waters, 
and  hewed  them  out  cisterns,  broken  cisterns,  which 
can  hold  no  water."  Jer.  ii.  12,  13.  God  is  a  God  of 
truth,  and  would  never  speak  thus  about  anything 
that  was  not  atrocious  and  enormous  in  its  very 
nature.  Yet  it  should  be  observed  that  he  mentions 
only  such  sins  as  are  chargeable  to  all  men,  even  the 
most  moral  and  decent.  In  this  estimate  of  the  evil 
of  sin  the  righteous  do  well  agree  with  God.  The 
most  piteous  and  bitter  cries,  that  ever  ascended  from 
earth  to  heaven,  were  uttered  under  the  sting  of  sin, 
or  were  for  deliverance  from  its  power.  In  doctrine 
there  can  be  no  worse  tendency  than  that  which  dimin- 
ishes men's  abhorrence  of  iniquity.  Nor  is  there  a 
darker  sign  in  religious  experience  than  the  slightness 
of  the  impressions  some  have  concerning  the  heinous 
nature  of  all  sin.  It  is  worse  than  poverty,  sickness, 
reproach.  It  is  worse  than  all  sufferings.  The  reason 
is  because  it  is  "exceeding  sinful."  The  worst  thing 
that  can  be  said  of  any  thought,  word,  or  deed  is  that 
it  is  wicked.  It  may  be  foolish,  but  if  it  is  sinful,  that 
is  infinitely  worse.  It  may  be  vulgar,  and  as  such 
should  be  avoided ;  but  if  it  is  sinful,  it  should  be 
avoided,  were  it  ever  so  polite.  An  act  may  offend 
man,  and  yet  be  very  praiseworthy;  but  if  it  dis- 
pleases God,  nothing  can  excuse  its  commission. 

Some  have  proposed  curious  and  unprofitable  ques- 
tions respecting  the  infinitude  of  the  evil  of  sin.  An 
answer  to  them  would  probably  give  rise  to  a  host  of 
others  like  them,  and  so  there  would  be  no  end  of 
folly.  Besides,  men  do  not  propose  or  discuss  idle 
questions,  when  they  are  anxious  to  know  how  they 
may  be  saved  from  sin.     Then  they  cry :  "  Men  and 


22  SIN   IS   A   GREAT   EVlL. 

brethren,  what  must  we  do  ?  Is  there  mercy,  is  there 
help,  is  there  hope  for  such  perishing  sinners  as  we 
are  ?  if  so,  where  can  we  find  salvation  ?"  Questions, 
that  are  merely  curious  and  not  practical  in  religion, 
are  unworthy  of  study  and  consideration.  Yet  it  may 
be  proper  to  say  that  anything  is  to  us  infinite,  the 
dimensions  of  which  we  cannot  gauge,  the  greatness 
of  which  we  cannot  understand.  In  this  sense  sin  is 
an  infinite  evil.  We  cannot  set  bounds  to  it.  We 
cannot  say,  Thus  far  it  comes  and  no  further.  "  Sin, 
when  it  is  finished,  bringeth  forth  death."  And  who 
but  God  can  tell  all  that  is  included  in  that  fearful  word, 
death  ?  Moreover,  sin  is  committed  against  an  infinite 
God.  The  ill-desert  of  any  evil  deed  is  to  be  de- 
termined in  part  by  the  dignity  of  the  person,  against 
whom  it  is  directed.  To  strike  a  brother  is  wrong ; 
to  strike  a  parent  is  worse.  To  strike  a  fellow-soldier  is 
punishable  with  chains ;  to  strike  a  commanding  officer 
is  punishable  with  death.  On  this  principle  the  Bible 
reasons :  "If  any  man  sin  against  another,  the  judge 
"  shall  judge  him ;  but  if  a  man  sin  against  the  Lord, 
who  shall  entreat  for  him?"  1  Sam.  ii.  25.  God  is 
our  Maker,  Father,  Governor,  and  Judge.  He  is 
glorious  in  holiness,  fearful  in  praises,  doing  wonders. 
He  is  the  best  of  all  friends,  the  greatest  of  all  beings, 
the  most  bountiful  of  all  benefactors.  By  ties  stronger 
than  death  and  more  lasting  than  the  sun,  we  are 
bound  to  love,  fear,  honour  and  obey  him.  To  sin 
against  him  is  so  impudent,  ungrateful  and  wicked, 
that  no  created  mind  can  ever  adequately  estimate  its 
atrocity ;  and  so  it  is  an  infinite  evil.  If  sin  had  its 
own  way,  it  would  dethrone  the  Almighty.  All  re- 
bellion tends  to  the  utter  subversion  of  the  govern- 


SIN   IS   A   GREAT   EVIL.  23 

merit  against  -which  it  is  committed ;  and  all  sin  is 
rebellion  against  the  government  of  God.  If  men  saw 
their  sins  aright,  they  would  more  highly  prize  divine 
mercy ;  and  if  they  had  more  worthy  conceptions  of 
God's  grace,  they  would  have  more  abasing  views  of 
themselves. 

We  may  learn  much  of  the  evil  nature  of  sin  by  the 
names  which  the  Bible  gives  to  it,  and  to  those  who 
practise  it.  It  is  called  disobedience,  transgression, 
iniquity,  foolishness,  madness,  rebellion,  evil,  evil  fruit, 
uncleanness,  filthiness,  pollution,  perverseness,  frow- 
ardness,  stubbornness,  revolt,  an  abomination,  an  ac- 
cursed thing.  In  like  manner  deeds  of  wickedness 
are  called  evil  works,  works  of  darkness,  dead  works, 
works  of  the  flesh,  works  of  the  devil.  And  wicked 
men  are  called  sinners,  unjust,  unholy,  unrighteous, 
filthy,  evil  men,  evil  doers,  seducers,  despisers,  child- 
ren of  darkness,  children  of  the  devil,  children  of  hell, 
corrupters,  idolators,  enemies  of  God,  enemies  of  all 
righteousness,  adversaries  of  God  and  man,  liars, 
deceivers. 

From  low,  meagre  apprehensions  of  the  divine  nature 
and  law  flow  a  slight  estimate  of  the  evil  of  sin,  spi- 
ritual pride,  self-conceit,  and  a  clisesteem  of  the  most 
precious  righteousness  of  Jesus  Christ.  He,  who  can 
go  to  Gethsemane  and  Calvary,  and  come  away  with 
slight  views  of  the  evil  nature  of  sin,  must  be  blind 
indeed.  There  God  speaks  in  accents  not  to  be  mis- 
understood but  by  the  wilful.  Yet  such  is  the  per- 
verseness of  men  that  they  often  refuse  to  learn  even 
at  the  cross  of  Christ.  Beveridge  says  :  "  Man's  un- 
derstanding is  so  darkened  that  he  can  see  nothing  of 
God  in  God,  nothing  of  holiness  in  holiness,  nothing 


24  SIN  IS  A   GKEAT   EVIL. 

of  good  in  good,  nothing  of  evil  in  evil,  nor  anything 
of  sinfulness  in  sin.  Nay,  it  is  so  darkened  that  he 
fancies  himself  to  see  good  in  evil,  and  evil  in  good, 
happiness  in  sin,  and  misery  in  holiness."  We  all 
naturally  belong  to  the  generation  of  "  the  blind  peo- 
ple that  have  eyes,  and  the  deaf  that  have  ears."  In 
coincidence  with  these  general  views  Brookes  says: 
"  No  sin  can  be  little,  because  there  is  no  little  God  to 
sin  against." 

Bunyan  near  death  said  :  ct  No  sin  against  God  can 
be  little  ;  because  it  is  against  the  great  God  of  hea- 
ven and  earth  ;  but  if  the  sinner  can  find  out  a  little 
God,  it  may  be  easy  to  find  out  little  sins." 

John  Owen  says  :  "  He  that  hath  slight  thoughts 
of  sin,  never  had  great  thoughts  of  God." 

Luther  said :  "  From  the  error  of  not  knowing  or 
understanding  what  sin  is,  there  necessarily  arises  an- 
other error,  that  people  cannot  know  or  understand 
wrhat  grace  is." 

The  Westminster  Assembly  says :  "  Every  sin,  even 
the  least,  being  against  the  sovereignty,  goodness,  and 
holiness  of  God,  and  against  his  righteous  law,  de- 
serveth  his  wrath  and  curse,  both  in  this  life,  and  that 
which  is  to  come,  and  cannot  be  expiated  but  by  the 
blood  of  Christ." 

Paul  says:   "  The  wages  of  sin  is  death." 

Chrysostom  says :  "  There  is  in  human  affairs  no- 
thing that  is  truly  terrific  but  sin.  In  all  things  else, 
in  poverty,  in  sickness,  in  disgrace,  and  in  death, 
(which  is  held  to  be  the  greatest  of  all  evils)  there  is 
nothing  that  is  really  dreadful.  With  the  wise  man 
they  are  all  empty  names.  But  to  offend  God,  to  do 
what  he  disapproves,  this  is  real  evil." 


SIN   IS   A   GREAT   EVIL.  25 

Truly  every  wise  man  will  say  that  he  has  cause  to 
cry,  Show  me  my  sin,  my  lost  condition ;  show  me 
thy  love,  thy  mercy.  Show  me  the  extent,  the  holi- 
ness, the  spirituality  of  thy  commandments.  Reveal 
thy  Son  in  me.  Let  him  be  the  cure  of  sin,  both  of 
its  horrible  pollution  and  its  horrible  guilt. 
3 


CHAPTER    IV. 

HOW   THE    PIOUS   REGARD    SIN   IN    THEMSELVES   AND 
IN    OTHERS. 

"  I  abhor  myself,  and  repent  in  dust  and  ashes  ;" 
"  0  wretched  man  that  I  am,  who  shall  deliver  me 
from  the  body  of  this  death?"  "0  my  God,  I  am 
ashamed  and  blush  to  lift  up  my  face  to  thee ;"  "  Cast 
me  not  away  from  thy  presence  and  take  not  thy  Holy 
Spirit  from  me."  These  are  but  specimens  of  the 
deep  humiliation,  self-loathing,  bitterness  of  soul,  and 
painful  apprehension  which  the  righteous  of  every  age 
feel  for  their  own  sins.  There  is  a  sense,  in  which 
every  good  man  regards  himself  as  the  chief  of  sinners. 
That  is,  every  one,  who  really  knows  his  own  heart, 
and  has  seen  the  sad  work,  which  sin  has  made  in  his 
moral  character,  is  able  as  before  God  to  say  more  evil 
of  himself  than  of  any  other  being.  The  souls  of  such 
are  filled  with  a  godly  sorrow,  which  worketh  repen- 
tance to  salvation,  not  to  be  repented  of.  Nor  is  this 
sorrow  a  solitary  sentiment.  What  carefulness  it 
works  in  all  the  regenerate,  yea,  what  clearing  of 
themselves,  yea,  what  indignation,  yea,  what  fear,  yea, 
what  vehement  desire,  yea,  what  zeal,  yea,  what  re- 
venge !  In  fine  it  is  certain  that  no  sentiment  is  more 
powerful  in  its  effects  on  men's  hearts,  than  this  self- 
abasement  for  personal  vileness  in  the  sight  of  God. 
(20) 


HOW  THE    PIOUS   REGARD   SIN.  27 

Sin  in  the  heart  of  the  believer  is  to  him  exceedingly 
odious. 

Some  may  say  that  Christians  are  chiefly  distressed 
at  their  own  sins,  because  they  fear  that  they  will  prove 
their  ruin  at  last.  Those,  who  bring  this  charge, 
should  know  that  the  righteous  seldom  endure  greater 
anguish  of  mind  than  that  produced  by  the  sins  of 
others.  This  grief  is  not  confined  to  any  one  class  of 
good  men.  The  young  convert,  the  strong  man  in 
Christ,  and  the  aged  servant  of  the  Lord  alike  show 
their  sadness  when  others  are  known  to  offend  against 
God.  It  is  therefore  illogical  and  unfair  to  impute 
this  distress  to  weakness  of  mind,  to  nervous  debility, 
or  to  personal  apprehension  of  coming  wrath.  It  is  a 
part  of  genuine  Christian  feeling.  He,  who  cares  not 
that  others  offend  God,  has  never  wept  aright  over  his 
own  sins.  So  certainly  as  the  heart  is  savingly 
changed,  will  men  hate  and  be  made  sad  by  all  sin, 
even  though  it  be  in  a  stranger.  Was  not  the  soul  of 
righteous  Lot  vexed  from  day  to  day  by  the  wickedness 
of  his  neighbours  ?  Did  not  David  cry,  "  I  beheld 
the  transgressors  and  was  grieved,  because  they  kept 
not  thy  word?"  Again  he  says:  "Horror  hath  taken 
hold  of  me  because  of  the  wicked  that  forsake  thy 
law ;"  and  "  rivers  of  water  run  down  mine  eyes,  be- 
cause they  keep  not  thy  law."  Jeremiah  felt  just  so  : 
"  Oh  that  my  head  were  waters,  and  mine  eyes  a  foun- 
tain of  tears,  that  I  might  weep  day  and  night  for  the 
slain  of  the  daughter  of  my  people."  Ezekiel  tells  us 
how  God,  by  an  angel  of  mercy,  "  set  a  mark  upon  the 
foreheads  of  the  men,  that  did  sigh  and  cry  for  all  the 
abominations"  done  in  the  land.  Jesus  himself  was  often 
grieved  at  the  wickedness  of  men.     He  wept  over  the 


28  HOW   THE   PIOUS   REGARD   SIN 

very  city,  which  was  about  to  shed  his  blood.  There 
must  be  something  very  heinous  in  the  nature  of  sin 
thus  to  awaken  grief  and  abhorrence  in  every  virtuous 
mind.  To  be  indifferent  to  the  moral  character  of 
those  around  us,  if  such  a  state  of  mind  be  possible,  is 
proof  of  a  sad  benumbing  of  all  virtuous  sensibilities. 
To  take  pleasure  in  those,  who  make  a  trade  of  sin, 
and  do  abominable  wickedness,  is  full  proof  of  one's 
loving  iniquity  for  its  own  sake. 

But  why  does  the  Christian  weep  for  the  sins  of 
others  ?  He  may  do  it  as  a  man.  Some  sins  bring 
shame,  and  poverty,  and  punishment  on  those,  who 
commit  them ;  and  all,  who  are  connected  with  them, 
are  to  some  extent  involved  in  suffering.  In  this  way 
the  pious  and  the  ungodly  members  of  a  family  often 
weep  together  over  the  intemperance,  or  other  ruinous 
and  disgraceful  vice  of  one  of  their  number.  But  the 
good  man  stops  not  here.  He  weeps  as  a  Christian. 
He  is  greatly  grieved  that  God  is  dishonoured.  This 
is  the  main  cause  of  all  his  grief.  And  as  he  is  bene- 
volent, he  is  sorry  that  men  will  expose  themselves  to 
Jehovah's  curse.  It  makes  him  tremble  to  see  men 
pulling  down  wrath  on  themselves.  He  is  also  grieved 
at  the  probable  ill  effects  of  a  bad  example,  in  seducing 
others  from  the  right  way.  He  is  specially  afflicted  at 
the  blindness  and  wantonness  of  sinners,  in  despising 
mercy,  rejecting  Christ  and  vexing  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Self-love  commonly  steps  not  in  to  shut  the  eyes  of  a 
Christian  to  the  hatefulness  of  sin,  when  he  sees  it  in 
others. 

When  others  sin,  good  men  see  what  they  themselves 
were  before  conversion,  or  what  they  would  have  been 
but  for  the  restraints  of  providence.     An  eminent  ser- 


IN   THEMSELVES   AND    IN    OTHERS.  29 

vant  of  Christ  seeing  a  culprit  led  to  execution  said, 
"  There  goes  John  Bradford  by  nature."  Can  any 
man  thus  see  himself  mirrored  forth  in  the  life  of  an- 
other, and  not  be  humbled  and  grieved  ?  Should  he, 
who  thus  transgresses,  be  a  professor  of  Christ's  reli- 
gion, and  eminent  in  gifts  or  station,  the  anguish  felt 
is  the  more  keen,  because  God  is  thus  greatly  dis- 
honoured, Christ  is  wounded  in  the  house  of  his  frinds, 
the  enemy  takes  occasion  to  utter  new  and  bitter  re- 
proaches against  religion,  and  the  wicked  are  greatly 
emboldened  in  wrong-doing.  Such  a  lapse  commonly 
shakes  all  those  secure  thoughts,  which  men  have  of 
their  own  spiritual  state,  and  awakens  jealousies,  over 
one's  self,  which  are  like  coals  of  juniper.  If  David 
fell,  much  more  may  a  weak  believer.  If  the  tempest 
tears  up  cedars  by  the  roots,  what  shall  become  of  the 
tender  plants  ?  If  a  giant  may  be  overcome,  how 
much  more  a  child?  So  that  the  open  sins  of  pro- 
fessors, in  proportion  to  their  eminence,  lead  God's 
people  to  great  heart-searchings  and  strong  fears  lest 
hidden  iniquity  should  at  last  be  their  ruin.  Let  it  be 
so ;  for  "  if  the  sins  of  others  be  not  our  fear,  they 
may  be  our  practice.  What  the  best  have  done,  the 
weakest  may  imitate.  There  is  scarcely  any  notorious 
sin,  into  which  self-confidence  may  not  plunge  us. 
There  is  hardly  any  sin,  from  which  a  holy  and  watch- 
ful fear  may  not  happily  preserve  us."  0  that  men 
would  remember  that,  "  Blessed  is  he  that  feareth  al- 
ways." Preservation  from  sin  is  better  than  recovery 
from  its  snares.  A  man  may  escape  death  by  a  malig- 
nant pestilence,  though  it  attack  him,  but  it  will  pro- 
bably leave  him  weak  and  liable  to  other  diseases. 
How  surely  will  a  wise  man  profit  by  the  errors  of 
3* 


30  HOW   THE   PIOUS    REGARD   SIN 

others !  "  In  vain  is  the  net  spread  in  the  sight  of 
any  bird."  When  the  land  is  full  of  enemies,  no  wise 
man  says,  "  There  is  no  danger." 

Of  all  unamiable  and  unchristian  tempers  none  is 
more  dangerous  to  its  possessor  than  harshness  to  a 
fallen  brother,  founded  on  confidence  in  our  own 
strength.  "  Brethren,  if  a  man  be  overtaken  in  a 
fault,  ye  which  are  spiritual  restore  such  an  one,  in  the 
spirit  of  meekness,  considering  thyself,  lest  thou  also 
be  tempted."  We  cannot  pity  erring  men  too  much, 
but  in  the  abhorrence  of  sin  there  is  no  danger  of 
excess,  nor  can  we  pray  too  fervently,  nor  watch  too 
closely  against  falling  into  the  evil  practices,  which 
we  lament  or  reprehend  in  others.  Sin  is  the  worst  of 
evils.  So  greatly  do  good  men  hate  it,  that  they  have 
long  preferred  anything  else  rather  than  its  defile- 
ment. Joseph  said  :  "  How  can  I  do  this  great  wick- 
edness and  sin  against  God  ?"  and  cheerfully  went  to 
prison  rather  than  yield  to  temptation.  Moses  also 
chose  "  rather  to  suffer  affliction  with  the  people  of 
God,  than  to  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  sin  for  a  season ; 
esteeming  the  reproach  of  Christ  greater  riches  than 
the  treasures  of  Egypt :  for  he  had  respect  unto  the 
recompense  of  the  reward."  Anselm  said:  "If  sin 
were  on  one  side,  and  hell  on  the  other,  I  would  sooner 
leap  into  hell  than  willingly  sin  against  my  God." 
Good  old  David  Rice,  the  apostle  of  Kentucky,  allud- 
ing to  the  irreligion  of  his  day,  said :  "  As  I  see  a 
propriety  in  it,  so  I  feel  an  inclination  to  go  mourning 
to  my  grave." 

How  base  and  cruel  it  is  in  unconverted  persons  by 
their  wickedness  to  afflict  all  their  pious  friends,  and 
then  upbraid  them  for  not  being  happy !     How  can. 


IN   THEMSELVES   AND   IN   OTHERS.  3l 

one  be  joyful,  when  he  sees  those,  whom  he  loves  most, 
rejecting  God,  and  "  digging  into  hell  ?"  Esther  said, 
"  How  can  I  endure  to  see  the  destruction  of  my  kin- 
dred ?"  And  Paul  said  :  "  I  say  the  truth  in  Christ, 
I  lie  not,  my  conscience  also  bearing  me  witness  in  the 
Holy  Ghost,  that  I  have  great  heaviness,  and  contin- 
ual sorrow  in  my  heart.  For  I  could  wish  that  my- 
self were  accursed  from  Christ,  for  my  brethren,  my 
kinsmen  according  to  the  flesh."  What  anguish 
wrings  the  heart  of  a  pious  wife,  or  child,  who  lives 
for  years  with  the  growing  conviction  that  he,  for 
whom  they  have  so  long  wept  and  prayed,  will  yet 
pretty  certainly  die  without  hope  !  And  who  can  de- 
scribe the  fearful  tumult,  or  crushing  sorrow,  when  the 
eyes  of  such  an  one  are  closed  in  death,  and  pious 
survivors  have  no  reason  to  believe  that  the  separation 
which  then  takes  place  is  other  than  eternal ! 


CHAPTER   V. 

THE    HEART   OF   MAN   IS   ALL  WRONG. 

Let  us  look  at  our  own  hearts.  There  is  a  mystery 
in  all  iniquity.  In  Scripture  it  is  often  called  a  lie, 
guile,  deceit.  The  heart  of  man  is  full  of  all  treachery ; 
so  that  "  there  is  no  faithfulness  in  their  mouth;  their 
inward  part  is  very  wickedness ;  their  throat  is  an  open 
sepulchre ;  they  flatter  with  their  tongue."  "  His 
mouth  is  full  of  cursing,  and  deceit,  and  fraud."  "  They 
speak  vanity  every  one  with  his  neighbour  :  with  flat- 
tering lips  and  with  a  double  heart  do  they  speak." 
"  The  counsels  of  the  wicked  are  deceit."  "  They 
hold  fast  deceit ;  they  refuse  to  return."  "  The  heart 
is  deceitful  above  all  things."  It  deceives  every  being 
but  one.  It  would  deceive  Him,  if  he  were  not  omni- 
scient. None  but  God  knows  all  the  depths  of  iniquity 
and  duplicity  within  us.  Genuine  conviction  is  at- 
tended with  a  sense  of  the  divine  knowledge  and  hatred 
of  our  sins.  What  unconverted  man  can  without  terror 
dwell  on  the  words,  "  Thou  God  seest  me?"  To  the 
regenerate  it  is  for  a  joy  that  God  knows  all  their 
hearts,  and  will  search  and  cleanse  them.  When  the 
wicked  sin  greedily,  and  have  no  checks  in  their  con- 
sciences, you  may  know  that  it  is  because  God  is  not 
in  all  their  thoughts.  "  Do  you  think  that  I  believe 
there  is  a  God,  when  I  do  such  things  ?"  said  Nero  to 
Seneca,  who  was  reproving  him  for  his  vices. 

(32) 


THE    HEART   OF   MAN  IS   ALL  WRONG.  33 

Though  the  language  of  the  Bible  is  strong,  it  is 
just.  God  declares,  and  every  Christian  knows  by 
sad  experience  that  his  heart  is  deceitful  above  all 
things.  Among  beasts,  the  fox  and  serpent  are  de- 
ceitful. But  their  arts  are  few  and  can  soon  be 
learned.  The  currents  of  the  sea  are  deceitful,  yet 
you  may  soon  acquire  a  knowledge  of  the  dangers 
thence  arising.  There  is  a  law  in  their  variations. 
Even  the  magnetic  needle  is  not  always  true  to  the  pole. 
Yet  its  variations  can  be  precisely  calculated.  But 
no  mortal  knows  how  much  his  heart  varies  from  the 
law  of  God.  "Who  can  understand  his  errors?" 
Ps.  xix.  12.  A  broken  tooth  or  foot  out  of  joint  can 
never  be  safely  trusted.  Men  know  this  and  never 
wittingly  rely  upon  them.  But  all  men  put  more  or 
less  confidence  in  their  own  hearts. 

Man  is  the  only  creature  on  earth  that  seems  to 
practise  self-deception.  The  fox  deceives  his  pur- 
suers, not  himself.  But  man  "  feedeth  on  ashes :  a 
deceived  heart  hath  turned  him  aside,  that  he  cannot 
deliver  his  soul,  nor  say,  Is  there  not  a  lie  in  my  right 
hand  ?"  Isa.  xliv.  20.  Who  has  not  often  seen  that 
"  there  is  a  way  that  seemeth  right  unto  a  man,  but  the 
end  thereof  are  the  ways  of  death  ?"  Prov.  xvi.  25. 
How  timely  is  that  exhortation  of  Paul,  "  Let  no  man 
deceive  himself!"  1  Cor.  iii.  18.  How  strange  and 
yet  how  common  that  he,  whose  heart  has  deceived 
him  a  thousand  times,  should  yet  confide  in  it  as  if  it 
had  always  been  honest ! 

Education  is  sometimes  so  conducted  as  to  make  us 
blind  to  our  real  characters.  One  trained  at  a  Jesuit's 
school  complained :  "  I  have  been  so  long  in  the  habit 
of  concealing  my  real  sentiments  from  others,  that  I 


84  THE   HEART   OP   MAN   IS  ALL   WRONG. 

hardly  know  what  they  are."  Few  men  have  been 
such  adepts  in  the  arts  of  a  corrupt  court  as  Talley- 
rand ;  but  many  still  live,  who  think  with  him  that 
"language  was  designed  to  conceal  thought."  In 
such  cases  "deceiving  and  being  deceived"  are  com- 
monly united.  That  we  should  sometimes  deceive 
others  is  proof  of  our  depravity ;  but  that  we  should 
spend  our  lives  in  self-deception  is  truly  marvellous. 
Men  of  the  fewest  virtues  commonly  have  the  best 
conceit  of  themselves.  Peter  solemnly  averred  his 
adhesion  to  Christ,  though  all  others  should  forsake 
him ;  yet  in  the  trying  hour  his  conduct  was  worse 
than  that  of  any  but  the  traitor.  When  forewarned 
of  his  wickedness  Hazael  felt  insulted,  and  cried. 
"  But  what !  is  thy  servant  a  dog,  that  he  should  do 
this  great  thing  ?"  Yet  he  very  soon  perpetrated  all 
the  horrible  crimes,  which  had  been  foretold.  Above 
most  men  Ahab  sold  himself  to  do  iniquity,  and  thus 
brought  dire  curses  on  his  person  and  kingdom ;  yet, 
as  soon  as  he  saw  Elijah,  he  said,  "  Art  thou  he  that 
troubleth  Israel?"  A  perfect  knowledge  of  the 
treachery  of  our  hearts  is  possessed  by  none  but  God ; 
a  just  knowledge  of  them  belongs  to  no  portion  of 
mankind,  but  those  who  are  enlightened  by  the  Holy 
Ghost. 

The  heart  is  also  vile.  It  is  "  desperately  wicked." 
It  loves  vanity,  and  folly,  and  sin.  It  hates  holiness, 
and  truth,  and  divine  restraints.  It  is  a  sink  of  ini- 
quity, a  pool  of  pestilential  waters,  a  cage  of  unclean 
birds,  a  sepulchre  full  of  dead  men's  bones.  It  is  torn 
by  wild,  fierce,  unhallowed  passions.  It  rejects  good 
and  chooses  evil.  It  is  wholly  corrupt.  There  is  no 
soundness  in  it.     It  is  full  of  evil.     "  Out  of  the  heart 


THE  HEART  OF  MAN  IS  ALL  WRONG.      35 

proceed  evil  thoughts,  murders,  adulteries,  fornica- 
tions, thefts,  false  witness,  blasphemies."  Matt.  xv.  19. 

Men  may  rail  at  the  vices,  principles,  and  preju- 
dices of  others,  and  be  worse  themselves.  "  He,  that 
trusteth  in  his  own  heart  is  a  fool."  Prov.  xxviii.  26. 
If  the  word,  fool,  here  as  in  some  other  cases  desig- 
nates a  wicked  man,  it  is  well  applied.  None  but  bad 
men  lean  upon  their  own  hearts,  their  own  wisdom  and 
counsels,  their  own  strength  and  sufficiency,  their  own 
merit  and  righteousness.  If  the  word,  fool,  points  out 
one,  who  is  destitute  of  wisdom,  then  who  lacks  that 
quality  so  much  as  he,  who  believes  his  heart  upright 
and  honest,  when  all  his  life  it  has  been  leading  him 
away  from  God,  and  practising  on  him  the  grossest 
deceptions  ?  Surely  human  nature  is  a  poor  thing. 
Man  at  his  best  estate  is  altogether  vanity.  "  Before 
conversion,  his  heart  is  the  worst  part  about  him." 
Every  wise  man  will  say  with  Paul :  "I  know  that  in 
me,  that  is,  in  my  flesh,  there  dwelleth  no  good  thing." 
Rom.  vii.  18. 

Sometimes  the  word,  heart,  is  in  Scripture  used  to 
designate  the  conscience,  as  where  it  is  said,  "  if  our 
heart  condemn  us,  God  is  greater  than  our  heart,  and 
knoweth  all  things."  TVe  all  have  by  nature  "an 
evil  conscience."  The  state  of  the  world  judged  by 
the  entire  state  of  men's  consciences,  presents  one  of 
the  most  appalling  subjects  of  contemplation.  "  He 
that  hath  a  blind  conscience,  which  sees  nothing ;  a 
dead  conscience,  which  feels  nothing;  and  a  dumb 
conscience,  which  says  nothing,  is  in  as  miserable  a 
condition  as  a  man  can  be  in  on  this  side  hell." 


CHAPTER  VI. 


WICKED  MEN  ARE  LIKE  WICKED  ANGELS. 

Such  is  the  sad  state  of  man  by  nature  that  he 
bears  a  fearful  resemblance  to  fallen  angels.  This 
truth  is  very  abasing  to  human  pride.  To  declare  it 
is  a  high  offence  in  the  judgment  of  many  men  of  un- 
circumcised  ears  and  hearts.  They  wait  not  to  ask 
what  is  meant  by  it,  nor  what  are  the  evidences  of  its 
truth.  They  instantly  repel  the  charge  with  indigna- 
tion. This  truth,  like  any  other,  may  be  announced 
in  an  offensive  manner ;  but  it  is  a  truth,  which  must 
never  be  given  up. 

No  one  asserts  that  unrenewed  men  now  on  earth 
are  as  wicked  as  they  possibly  can  be.  If  they  live  a 
day  longer  in  sin,  they  will  be  worse.  And  if  they 
go  to  eternity  without  a  change  of  heart,  they  will  be 
far,  far  worse.  Continuance  in  sin  hardens  the  heart, 
and  makes  men  more  and  more  reckless  and  desperate. 
"  Evil  men  and  seducers  shall  wax  worse  and  worse." 
Satan  himself  is  more  hardened  and  more  malignant 
than  when  he  first  revolted.  No  man  all  of  a  sudden 
sinks  to  the  lowest  depths  of  debasement. 

Of  course  it  is  not  asserted  that  men  are  now  posi- 
tively as  bad  as  the  angels  who  kept  not  their  first 
estate.  Man  has  not  time  on  earth  to  work  out  such 
completeness  of  evil  as  his  elder  brethren,  who  fell 
into  sin,  have  attained.     Moreover,  most  men  have 

(36) 


WICKED  MEN  ARE  LIKE  WICKED  ANGELS.    37 

some  degree  of  conscience,  some  natural  affection, 
some  regard  to  the  proprieties  of  life,  and  some  hope 
of  future  repentance,  which  restrain  their  evil  natures. 
And  yet  wicked  men  are  like  wicked  angels  in  the 
sense  in  which  a  child  is  like  a  man,  or  a  whelp  like  a 
lion.     Let  us  see : 

All  admit  that  wicked  angels  have  no  holiness.  In 
this  wicked  men  are  precisely  like  them.  They  do 
not  love  God's  law,  or  nature,  or  government.  They 
are  alienated  from  him,  and  opposed  to  all  his  attri- 
butes and  authority.  They  do  not  glorify  him,  do  not 
delight  in  him,  do  not  find  pleasure  in  thinking  on  his 
name.  They  choose  sin  and  death,  rather  than  holi- 
ness and  life.  "  The  carnal  mind  is  enmity  against 
God:  for  it  is  not  subject  to  the  law  of  God,  neither 
indeed  can  be.  So  then  they  that  are  in  the  flesh 
cannot  please  God."  Wicked  angels  do  not  please 
God,  neither  do  wicked  men.  Neither  class  intends 
nor  desires  to  please  him.  Fallen  angels  are  without 
God  in  their  prison-house ;  and  wicked  men  are  with- 
out God  in  the  world.  Neither  fallen  angels  nor  fallen 
men  feel  towards  God,  as  loyal  subjects  towards  a 
prince,  as  faithful  servants  to  a  master,  as  dutiful 
children  to  a  father. 

The  want  of  truth  is  a  great  sin  among  fallen  an- 
gels and  fallen  men.  Satan  is  a  deceiver,  a  slanderer, 
an  accuser  of  the  brethren,  a  liar  and  the  father  of 
lies.  Men  also  are  deceivers.  They  lay  snares  privily. 
They  use  cunning  craftiness.  They  practise  intrigue, 
imposture,  and  equivocation.  They  love  and  make  a  lie. 
They  are  a  lie.  "  They  delight  in  lies."  The  wicked 
are  estranged  from  the  womb :  they  go  astray  as  soon 
as   they  be  born,  speaking   lies.     All   the  hopes  of 


38    WICKED  MEN  ARE  LIKE  WICKED  ANGELS. 

wicked  men  are  but  "refuges  of  lies,''  and  the  last 
day  will  show  it. 

Satan  is  cruel,  unrelenting,  and  a  murderer  from  the 
beginning.  He  delights  in  scenes  of  blood.  His 
trade  is  to  murder  souls.  Wicked  men  are  murderers. 
They  hate  one  another.  They  hate  the  just.  They 
shed  innocent  blood.  They  murder  souls.  They  have 
no  compassion  for  the  perishing  :  "  He  that  hateth 
his  brother  is  a  murderer,  and  ye  know  that  no  mur- 
derer hath  eternal  life  abiding  in  him."  More  than 
twice  the  whole  number  of  inhabitants  of  the  United 
States  in  1852,  that  is,  more  than  fifty  millions  of  people 
have  been  murderously  put  to  death  in  the  last  eighteen 
hundred  years,  simply  because  they  professed  to  love 
the  truth  of  God  and  the  Saviour  of  sinners.  Laws, 
public  opinion,  and  God's  providence  now  restrain  many, 
but  the  heart  of  unrenewed  man  is  as  wicked  as  it  ever 
was.  It  hates  holiness,  wherever  seen.  Those  men 
who  go  about  murdering  souls  by  teaching  false  doc- 
trine, are  peculiarly  like  the  great  destroyer. 

Satan  is  a  robber.  He  would  rob  men  of  their  sal- 
vation, Christ  of  his  crown,  and  God  of  his  glory. 
He  plotted  and  instigated  the  robbery,  which  the  Sa- 
beans  perpetrated  upon  Job.  He  is  the  great  patron 
of  pirates,  footpads,  burglars  and  thieves,  and  wicked 
men  do  his  bidding.  They  oppress,  defraud,  and  rob 
one  another.  They  do  more.  They  defraud  the  Al- 
mighty. "  Will  a  man  rob  God  ?  yet  ye  have  robbed 
me  *  *  *  }n  tithes  and  offerings." 

Fallen  angels  are  greedy  of  sin  and  delight  in  wick- 
edness. Wicked  men  are  just  so.  "  They  sleep  not 
except  they  have  done  some  mischief."  "  They  draw 
iniquity  with  a  cart-rope."  "They  are  mad  upon  their 


WICKED  MEN  ARE  LIKE  WICKED  ANGELS.     39 

idols."  They  have  pleasure  in  those  that  do  iniquity. 
They  delight  themselves  in  a  thing  of  naught.  They 
are  bent  on  backsliding. 

Satan  is  a  tempter  and  so  are  wicked  men.  He 
would  have  Job  curse  God  and  die  ;  so  his  wife  invites 
him  to  the  horrid  deed.  He  gives  the  text,  "  Thou 
shalt  not  surely  die,"  and  the  Universalist  takes  it  up 
and  goes  through  the  land,  promising  life  to  the  wicked, 
salvation  to  the  impenitent,  heaven  to  the  unbelieving. 

In  some  things  wicked  men  do  what  fallen  angels 
never  did.  They  reject  mercy  and  grace,  kindly  offered 
to  them  by  the  Lord.  Devils  never  did  that.  You 
say,  They  never  had  the  opportunity.  True,  but  they 
never  did  it.  Neither  did  they  ever  laugh  at  eternity, 
judgment  and  damnation.  They  have  too  fearful  a 
sense  of  the  wrath  of  God  to  be  able  to  mock  and  jest 
at  the  most  terrible  things.  If  these  things  be  so,  then 
we  understand  something  of  the  import  of  our  Saviour's 
words  to  the  wicked  of  his  day :  "  Ye  are  of  your 
father  the  devil,  and  his  works  will  ye  do."  How 
dreadful  is  sin !  It  converts  angels  into  devils  and 
men  into  fiends.  There  is  no  unfitness  in  the  arrange- 
ment which  God  has  made  for  having  one  great  prison- 
house  for  all  his  incorrigible  foes.  The  very  place 
prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels,  will  be  the  abode 
of  finally  impenitent  men.  How  dreadful  will  hell  be, 
filled  up  with  outlaws,  robbers,'  murderers,  liars,  hypo- 
crites, ingrates,  enemies  of  God  and  of  all  righteousness, 
from  among  angels  and  men.  And  how  startling  is  the 
thought  that  devils  have  stronger  emotions  pertaining 
to  religion  than  some  wicked  men.  "  The  devils  be- 
lieve and  tremble."  How  many  sinners  neither  be- 
lieve nor  tremble  !  And  how  many  others  who  seem 
to  believe,  laugh  at  things  which  lay  hold  on  eternity  ! 


CHAPTER    VII. 


MAN   IS    UTTERLY   HELPLESS. 


As  a  sinner,  man  can  neither  commend  nor  convert 
himself  to  God.  He  cannot  atone  for  his  sins,  he  can- 
not satisfy  divine  justice,  he  cannot  subdue  his  own 
iniquities,  he  cannot  perform  any  holy  action.  In 
our  day  there  are  but  few  Protestants,  who  maintain 
that  man  can  make  any  atonement  for  his  sins  against 
God ;  or  redeem  himself,  by  paying  any  ransom  for 
his  soul.  "  Christ  hath  redeemed  us  from  the  curse 
of  the  law ;"  "  He  is  the  propitiation  for  our  sins ;" 
"  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sin 
of  the  world."  These  and  many  similar  passages  of 
Scripture  have  brought  all  but  outrageous  errorists  to 
acknowledge,  that  in  the  work  of  salvation  we  are 
wholly  and  absolutely  indebted  to  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  for  reconciliation  with  God.     He  is  our  peace. 

But  some  are  not  so  ready  to  confess  their  in- 
debtedness to  the  Holy  Spirit  for  all  right  percep- 
tions of  truth,  for  all  really  good  desires  and  proper 
motives,  for  all  spiritual  strength  and  power  to  do 
good.  It  is  with  extreme  reluctance  that  men  admit 
their  utter  helplessness  in  this  respect.  And  yet  the 
Scriptures  speak  a  language  as  decisive,  as  unmistaka- 
ble about  our  inability  to  purify  our  hearts  as  to  make 
an  atonement  for  transgression.  Therefore  when  God 
promises  aid  it  is  on  this  wise  :  "  He  giveth  power  to 
(40) 


MAN  IS  UTTERLY  HELPLESS.  41 

• 

the  faint ;  and  to  them  that  have  no  might  he  increaseth 
strength."  Isa.  xl.  29.  "  Not  by  might,  nor  by  power, 
but  by  my  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts."  Zech.  iv.  6. 
Even  converted  persons  stand  by  borrowed  strength. 
"Be  strong  in  the  Lord,  and  in  the  power  of  his 
might."  Eph.  vi.  10.  "  As  the  branch  cannot  bear 
fruit  of  itself,  except  it  abide  in  the  vine,  no  more  can 
ye  except  ye  abide  in  me"  John  xv.  4.  "Be  strong 
in  the  grace  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus."  2  Tim.  ii.  1. 
Indeed  the  righteous  have  always  delighted  to  acknow- 
ledge that  all  their  strength  is  in  God. 

Of  the  helplessness  of  unregenerate  man  the  Bible 
speaks  in  the  clearest  terms  and  in  many  ways.  First, 
it  teaches  that  he  cannot  see  and  know  the  truth. 
"  The  natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the 
Spirit ;  for  they  are  foolishness  to  him ;  neither  can 
he  know  them,  because  they  are  spiritually  discerned." 
1  Cor.  ii.  14.  Left  to  themselves  men  are  "  always 
learning,  but  never  able  to  come  to  the  knowledge  of 
the  truth.''  2  Tim.  iii.  7.  Accordingly  unregenerate 
men  are  often  spoken  of  as  blind  ;  and  God  very  gra- 
ciously promises  to  "bring  the  blind  by  a  way  that  they 
knew  not."  Isa.  xlii.  16.  Secondly,  without  God's 
Holy  Spirit  men  cannot  believe,  cannot  receive  Christ  : 
"  No  man  can  come  unto  me,  except  the  Father,  which 
hath  sent  me,  draw  him."  "No  man  can  come  unto 
me  except  it  were  given  him  of  my  Father."  John  vi. 
44,  65.  "  How  can  ye  believe,  who  receive  honour  one 
of  another,  and  seek  not  the  honour  which  cometh 
from  God?"  John  v.  44.  Even  a  disposition  to  hear 
God's  word  belongs  to  no  man  without  God's  Spirit. 
"  Why  do  ye  not  understand  my  speech  ?     Because  ye 

cannot  hear  my  word."  John  viii.  43.     Lydia  never 
4* 


42  MAN    IS    UTTERLY   HELPLESS. 

attended  to  the  preached  gospel  till  the  Lord  opened 
her  heart.  Acts  xvi.  14.  Thirdly,  without  God's 
Spirit  man  cannot  obey  a  single  law  of  God.  "  The 
carnal  mind  is  enmity  against  God ;  for  it  is  not  sub- 
ject to  the  law  of  God,  neither  indeed  can  be."  Rom. 
viii.  7. 

The  Church  of  God  has  always  held  this  doctrine. 
Augustine,  than  whom  the  truth  has  perhaps  never  had 
an  abler  uninspired  defender,  says:  "  Neither  doth  a 
man  begin  to  be  converted,  or  changed  from  evil  to 
good  by  the  beginnings  of  faith,  unless  the  free  and 
undeserved  mercy  of  God  work  it  in  him.''  "So 
therefore  let  the  grace  of  God  be  accounted  of,  that 
from  the  beginning  of  his  good  conversion  to  the  end 
of  his  perfection,  he  that  glorieth  let  him  glory  in  the 
Lord.  Because  as  none  can  begin  a  good  work  with- 
out the  Lord,  so  none  can  perfect  it  without  the  Lord." 
"  The  Lord,  that  he  might  answer  Pelagius  to  come, 
doth  not  say,  'Without  me  ye  can  hardly  do  any 
thing ;'  but  he  saith,  '  Without  me  ye  can  do  nothing.' 
And  that  he  might  also  answer  these  men  that  were 
to  come,  in  the  very  same  sentence  of  the  Gospel,  he 
doth  not  say,  '  Without  me  ye  cannot  perfect,'  but 
'  Without  me  ye  cannot  do  anything.'  For  if  he  had 
said,  Ye  cannot  perfect,  then  these  men  might  say, 
We  have  need  of  the  help  of  God,  not  to  begin  to  do 
good,  for  we  have  that  of  ourselves,  but  to  perfect  it." 
He  subsequently  quotes  and  remarks  on  those  notable 
texts,  "  Not  that  we  are  sufficient  of  ourselves  to  think 
anything  as  of  ourselves  ;"  and  "  Who  maketh  thee  to 
differ?"  He  also  says  that  "unless  God  do  help,  we 
can  have  no  piety  or  righteousness  either  in  word  or 
in  will."     "  It  is  certain  that  we  do  will  when  we  will,1 


*MAN   IS    UTTERLY   HELPLESS.  43 

but  it  is  he  that  makes  us  that  we  will  that,  which  is 
good."  "  It  is  certain  that  we  act  when  we  act,  but  it 
is  he  that  makes  us  to  act,  by  affording  most  efficacious 
strength  to  our  will." 

Ambrose  says  :  " Although  it  be  in  man  to  will  that, 
which  is  evil,  yet  he  hath  no  power  to  will  that,  which 
is  good,  except  it  be  given  him."  In  like  manner 
Maxentius  says  :  "We  believe  that  natural  free-will  is 
able  to  do  no  more  than  to  discern  and  desire  carnal, 
or  worldly  things  ;  which  may  seem  glorious  with  men, 
but  not  with  God.  But  those  things  that  belong  to 
eternal  life,  it  can  neither  think,  nor  will,  nor  desire, 
nor  perform,  but  only  by  the  infusion  and  inward  work- 
ing of  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  is  also  the  Spirit  of  Christ." 
Fulgentius  says:  "We  have  not  received  the  Spirit 
of  God  because  we  do  believe,  but  that  we  may  be- 
lieve." "In  the  heart  of  man,  faith  can  neither  be 
conceived,  nor  increased  unless  the  Holy  Spirit  does 
infuse  it,  and  nourish  it."  "He  delivers  us  not  by 
finding  faith  in  any  man,  but  by  giving  it."  Bernard 
says :  "If  human  nature,  when  it  was  perfect,  could 
not  stand ;  how  much  less  is  it  able  of  itself  to  rise  up 
again,  being  now  corrupt." 

The  Council  of  Orange,  which  met  A.  D.  529  holds : 
"  If  any  man  say  that  mercy  is  divinely  conferred  upon 
us  believing,  willing,  desiring,  endeavouring,  labouring, 
watching,  studying,  asking,  seeking,  knocking  without 
the  grace  of  God,  but  doth  not  confess  that  it  is  only 
by  the  infusion  and  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Ghost  into 
us  that  we  believe,  will,  and  are  able  to  do  all  these 
things  as  we  ought  to  do,  and  makes  the  help  of  grace 
to  follow  after  either  humility  or  obedience,  nor  will 
grant  that  it  is  the  gift  of  grace  itself  that  we  are  obe- 


44  MAN   IS    UTTERLY   HELPLESS. 

dient  and  humble,  he  resisteth  the  apostle,  who  says, 
"What  hast  thou  that  thou  hast  not  received  ?"  and 
"By  the  grace  of  God  I  am  what  I  am."  So  the 
African  Council  affirms  the  sentence  of  exclusion  against 
Pelagius  and  Ccelestius  "until  they  acknowledge,  by 
open  confession,  that  the  grace  of  God  by  Jesus  Christ 
our  Lord  doth  help  us  by  single  acts,  not  only  to 
know,  but  also  to  do  righteousness ;  so  that  without  it 
we  can  neither  have,  think,  speak,  nor  do  anything 
of  the  nature  of  true  and  holy  piety." 

The  Latter  Confession  of  Helvetia  says  that  since 
the  fall,  the  understanding  and  will  "  are  so  altered  in 
man,  that  they  are  not  able  to  do  that  now,  which  they 
could  do  before  his  fall."  Again:  "Man,  not  as  yet 
regenerate,  hath  no  free-will  to  good,  no  strength  to 
perform  that,  which  is  good."  In  proof  of  this  doc- 
trine it  presently  quotes  several  texts  of  Scripture,  of 
which  the  following  are  two :  "  Unto  you  it  is  given  in 
the  behalf  of  Christ,  not  only  to  believe  on  him,  but 
also  to  suffer  for  his  sake;"  and,  "It  is  God,  which 
worketh  in  you  both  to  will  and  to  do  of  his  good  plea- 
sure." Phil.  i.  29  and  ii.  13.  The  Confession  of 
Basle  says :  "  Our  nature  is  defiled,  and  become  so 
prone  unto  sin,  that,  except  it  be  renewed  by  the  Holy 
Ghost,  man  of  himself  can  neither  do  nor  will  any 
good."  John  iii.  3.  The  Confession  of  Bohemia  says: 
"That  will  of  man,  which  before  [the  fall]  was  free,  is 
now  so  corrupted,  troubled  and  weakened,  that  hence- 
forth of  itself  and  without  the  grace  of  God,  it  cannot 
choose,  judge  or  wish  fully ;  nay  it  hath  no  desire,  nor 
inclination,  much  less  any  ability  to  choose  that  good, 
wherewith  God  is  pleased.  For  albeit  it  fell  willingly, 
and  of  its  own  accord,  yet,  by  itself,  and  by  its  own 


MAN  IS  UTTERLY  HELPLESS.         45 

strength,  it  could  not  rise  again,  nor  recover  that  fall ; 
neither  to  this  day,  without  the  merciful  help  of  God, 
is  it  able  to  do  anything  at  all."  Rom.  vii.  19 — 23. 
Again:  "No  man  by  his  own  strength,  or  by  the 
power  of  his  own  will,  or  of  flesh  and  blood,  can  attain 
unto  or  have  this  saving  or  justifying  faith,  except 
God  of  his  grace,  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  by  the 
ministry  of  the  Gospel  preached,  do  plant  it  in  the 
heart  of  whom  he  list,  and  when  he  list."  John  i.  13. 

The  Confession  of  England  says,  "  that  the  law  of 
God  is  perfect,  and  requireth  of  us  perfect  and  full 
obedience;"  and  "that  we  are  able  by  no  means  to 
fulfil  that  law  in  this  worldly  life."  In  one  edition 
the  Augsburg  Confession  speaks  thus :  "  Man's  will 
hath  no  power  to  perform  a  spiritual  righteousness 
without  the  Holy  Spirit ;'?  and  quotes  in  proof  1  Cor. 
ii.  14  and  John  xv.  5.  The  Confession  of  Saxony 
says :  "  Man  by  his  natural  strength  is  not  able  to 
free  himself  from  sin  and  eternal  death."  The  Con- 
fession of  Wirtemburg  says:  "As  a  man  corporally 
dead  is  not  able  by  his  own  strength  to  prepare  or  con- 
vert himself  to  receive  corporal  life ;  so  he,  who  is 
spiritually  dead,  is  not  able  by  his  own  power  to  con- 
vert himself  to  receive  spiritual  life."  The  churches 
of  England  and  Ireland  both  teach  that  "  the  condi- 
tion of  man  after  the  fall  of  Adam  is  such  that  he  can- 
not turn  and  prepare  himself,  by  his  own  natural 
strength  and  good  works  to  faith  and  calling  upon 
God."  The  Synod  of  Dort  says  that  all  men  are  "un- 
toward to  all  good  tending  to  salvation,  forward  to 
evil ;  dead  in  sins,  slaves  of  sin,  and  neither  will  nor 
can  (without  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  regener- 
ating them)  set  straight  their  own  crooked  nature,  no, 


46  MAN   IS   UTTERLY   HELPLESS. 

nor  so  much  as  dispose  themselves  to  the  amending  of 
it."  The  Westminster  Confession  says  that  by  our 
"  original  corruption,  we  are  utterly  indisposed,  dis- 
abled, and  made  opposite  to  all  good,  and  wholly  in- 
clined to  all  evil."  Alas  !  in  what  a  sad  condition  we 
are  by  nature  !  Ambrose  says  :  "  Though  bound  with 
the  chains  of  my  sins,  I  am  held  fast  hand  and  foot, 
and  buried  in  dead  works,  on  thy  call,  0  God,  I  come 
forth  free."  Beveridge  says  :  "  I  cannot  pray,  but  I 
sin  :  I  cannot  hear  or  preach  a  sermon,  but  I  sin :  I 
cannot  give  an  alms,  or  receive  the  sacrament,  but  I 
sin :  nay,  I  cannot  so  much  as  confess  my  sins,  but  my 
confessions  are  still  aggravations  of  them.  My  re- 
pentance needs  to  be  repented  of,  my  tears  want  wash- 
ing, and  the  very  washing  of  my  tears  needs  still  to  be 
washed  over  again  with  the  blood  of  my  Redeemer." 
Truly  all  our  hope  is  in  free  grace  alone.  If  we  are 
not  still  in  the  graves  of  death,  it  is  because  we  are 
"risen  with  Christ." 

Our  helplessness,  when  left  to  ourselves,  is  as  mani- 
fest in  small  as  in  great  things,  on  little  as  on  great 
occasions.  It  has  long  been  observed  that  men  are  as 
apt  to  err  from  the  right  way  upon  a  slight  as  upon  a 
great  provocation.  Jonah  said  he  did  well  to  be  an- 
gry, even  unto  death,  about  a  gourd.  A  damsel  put 
Peter  to  cursing  and  swearing.  Job  bore  all  his  losses 
without  one  sinful  word ;  but  when  falsely  accused  by 
his  brethren,  he  entirely  lost  his  temper.  A  bee  has 
killed  a  man,  who  had  survived  the  perils  and  grievous 
wounds  of  battle.  Many  will  weigh  every  word  and 
speak  the  whole  truth  in  solemn  judicature,  and  yet 
forfeit  veracity  in  talking  with  a  child,  or  in  telling  an 
amusing  anecdote.     I  have  seen  a  man  bear  with  com- 


MAN  IS  UTTERLY  HELPLESS.         47 

posure  the  burning  of  his  house,  and  yet  lose  proper 
control  of  himself,  when  charged  too  much  for  a  quire 
of  paper.  John  Newton  says :  "  The  grace  of  God  is 
as  necessary  to  create  a  right  temper  in  Christians  on 
the  breaking  of  a  china  plate  as  on  the  death  of  an 
only  son."  We  as  truly  need  help  from  God  to  enable 
us  in  a  right  spirit  to  bear  the  tooth-ache  as  to  suffer 
martyrdom  in  the  cause  of  truth.  In  all  things,  at  all 
times  we  need  the  grace  of  Christ.  By  it  alone  can 
we  be  or  do  anything  pleasing  to  God,  or  salutary  to 
our  own  souls. 

Many  persons,  who  profess  to  be  Arminians  are  as 
wide  of  holding  the  doctrines  of  Arminius,  as  those  of 
Paul.  The  Ley  den  Professor  says  expressly:  "It  is 
impossible  for  free  will  without  grace  to  begin  or  per- 
fect any  true  or  spiritual  good.  I  say,  the  grace  of 
Christ,  which  pertains  to  regeneration,  is  simply  and 
absolutely  necessary  for  the  illumination  of  the  mind, 
the  ordering  of  the  affections,  and  the  inclination  of 
the  will  to  that,  which  is  good.  It  is  that  which  ope- 
rates on  the  mind,  the  affections,  and  the  will ;  which 
infuses  good  thoughts  into  the  mind,  inspires  good  de- 
sires into  the  affections,  and  leads  the  will  to  execute 
good  thoughts  and  good  desires.  It  goes  before,  ac- 
companies, and  follows.  It  excites,  assists,  works  in 
us  to  will,  and  works  with  us  that  we  may  not  will  in 
vain.  It  averts  temptations,  stands  by  and  aids  us  in 
temptations,  supports  us  against  the  flesh,  the  world, 
and  Satan ;  and,  in  the  conflict,  it  grants  us  to  enjoy 
the  victory.  It  raises  up  again  those,  who  are  con- 
quered and  fallen,  it  establishes  them,  and  endues 
them  with  new  strength,  and  renders  them  more  cau- 
tious.    It  begins,  promotes,  perfects,  and  consummates 


48         MAN  IS  UTTERLY  HELPLESS. 

salvation.  I  confess,  that  the  mind  of  the  natural  and 
carnal  man  is  darkened,  his  affections  are  depraved, 
his  will  is  refractory,  and  that  the  man  is  dead  in  sin" 

Richard  Watson  fully  admits  that  "the  sin  of  Adam 
introduced  into  his  nature  such  a  radical  impotence 
and  depravity,  that  it  is  impossible  for  his  descendants 
to  make  any  voluntary  effort  [of  themselves]  towards 
piety  and  virtue."  He  also  quotes  with  entire  appro- 
bation this  celebrated  sentence  from  Calvin :  "  Man  is 
so  totally  overwhelmed,  as  with  a  deluge,  that  no  part 
is  free  from  sin,  and  therefore  whatever  proceeds  from 
him  is  accounted  sin."  Would  that  many,  who  have 
subscribed  the  most  orthodox  formulas  on  this  subject 
were  really  as  sound  as  James  Arminius  and  Richard 
Watson. 

Do  not  all  these  Scriptures  and  reasonings  from 
Scripture  make  it  clear  that  the  victory  over  sin  will 
never  be  gained  by  an  arm  of  flesh  ?  Nature  is  too 
weak.  She  is  broken,  and  crippled,  and  helpless.  In 
this  work,  all  men,  if  left  to  themselves,  are  stark 
naught.  They  have  no  might  to  do  good,  though  they 
are  mighty  to  do  evil.  One  of  the  most  instructive 
portions  of  personal  history  is  the  record  of  various 
attempts  made  by  several  great  men  to  reform  their 
hearts  by  a  self-invented  discipline,  without  the  aid  of 
God's  Holy  Spirit.  They  have  reflected,  have  made 
resolutions,  have  drawn  up  schedules  of  their  vices  to 
be  corrected,  have  examined  their  hearts,  have  found 
fault  with  their  own  efforts,  and  have  formed  new 
plans ;  but  with  the  exception  that  now  and  then  a 
decent  exterior  has  been  attained,  all  has  been  a  sad 
failure.  Their  history  was  long  ago  given  by  Prosper : 
"  Though  there  have  been  some,  who  by  their  natural 


MAN  IS   UTTERLY  HELPLESS.  49 

understanding  have  endeavoured  to  resist  vices,  yet 
they  have  barrenly  adorned  only  the  life  of  this  time  ; 
but  they  could  not  attain  to  true  virtues  and  everlast- 
ing happiness."  Bernard  addresses  such  in  these 
words  :  "  What  have  you  philosophers  to  do  with  vir- 
tues,, who  are  ignorant  of  Christ,  the  virtue  of  God  ?" 
Fuller's  soap  and  much  water  will  not  take  out  the 
scarlet  dye  and  crimson  hue.  Leviathan  is  not  thus 
taken.  The  core  of  depravity  is  not  thus  extracted. 
"  Old  Adam  is  always  too  strong  for  young  Melanc- 
thon."  Prodigality  may  wage  war  on  covetousness, 
pride  on  the  love  of  popularity,  the  love  of  ease  on  the 
love  of  show,  but  one  evil  passion  cannot  so  expel  an- 
other as  to  purify  the  heart.  "  Restrained  sensuality 
often  takes  a  miser's  cap,  or  struts  in  pharisaic  pride." 
It  is  easy  to  pass  from  one  sin  to  another,  but  to  be- 
come holy  is  never  possible  but  by  the  power  of  God's 
efficacious  grace.  "  Nature  can  no  more  cast  out  na- 
ture, than  Satan  can  cast  out  Satan." 

These  views  are  strengthened  by  the  fact  that  we 
not  only  have  sinful  natures,  but  have  also  formed  sin- 
ful habits,  whose  power  is  terrific.  "  Can  the  Ethio- 
pian change  his  skin  ?  or  the  leopard  his  spots  ?  then 
may  ye  also  do  good,  that  are  accustomed  to  do  evil." 
Jer.  xiii.  23.  "If  Adam,  when  he  had  committed  but 
one  sin,  and  that  in  a  moment,  did  not  seek  to  regain 
his  lost  integrity,  how  can  any  other  man,  who  by  a 
multitude  of  sinful  acts  hath  made  his  habits  of  a 
giant-like  stature,  completed  many  parts  of  wicked- 
ness, and  scoffed  at  the  rebukes  of  conscience  ?"  The 
power  of  habit  is  such  that  even  in  the  wanness  and 
agony  of  death,  its  influence  is  often  manifest  in  the 
whole  manner  of  a  dying  man.  But  enough  of  this. 
5 


50  MAN    IS    UTTERLY   HELPLESS. 

In  full  accordance  with  all  that  has  been  said,  these 
things  are  noticeable  in  Scripture.  First,  God  has 
mercifully  promised  the  needed  strength  and  grace : 
"  My  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee,  for  my  strength  is 
made  perfect  in  weakness."  2  Cor.  xii.  9.  "The 
Lord  will  give  strength  unto  his  people."  Psa.  xxix.  11. 
"  Thy  people  shall  be  willing  in  the  day  of  thy  power." 
Psa.  ex.  3.  See  also  Deut.  xxx.  6 — 8  ;  Ezek.  xi.  19,  20 
and  many  other  places.  Secondly,  pious  men  do  uni- 
formly ascribe  all  their  ability  to  God.  "  God  is  our 
refuge  and  strength,  a  very  present  help  in  trouble." 
Psa.  xlvi.  1.  "In  the  day  when  I  cried  thou  answer- 
edst  me,  and  strengthenedst  me  with  strength  in  my 
soul."  Psa.  exxxviii.  3.  "  Sing  aloud  unto  God  our 
strength."  Psa.  lxxxi.  1.  "  Our  sufficiency  is  of  God." 
2  Cor.  iii.  5.  "  I  laboured  more  abundantly  than  they 
all ;  yet  not  I,  but  the  grace  of  God,  which  was  with 
me."  1  Cor.  xv.  10.  Thirdly,  wise  and  good  men 
always  have  looked  to  God  alone  and  not  at  all  to 
themselves  or  other  men  for  ability  to  do  right.  "  O 
Lord  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  of  Israel,  our  fa- 
thers, keep  this  for  ever  in  the  imagination  of  the 
thoughts  of  the  heart  of  thy  people,  and  prepare  their 
heart  unto  thee."  1  Chron.  xxix.  18.  "  0  that  my 
ways  were  directed  to  keep  thy  statutes."  "  Incline 
my  heart  unto  thy  testimonies."  "  Quicken  me,  so 
shall  I  keep  the  testimonies  of  thy  mouth."  Psa.  cxix. 
5,  36,  88.  See  also  Heb.  xiii.  20  and  21  and  parallel 
passages.  Let  it,  however,  not  be  forgotten  that  our 
helplessness  does  not  at  all  proceed  from  any  defect  in 
the  original  constitution  of  our  minds  as  they  came 
from  the  hands  of  God.  He  made  man  upright.  It 
is  sin,  which  has  done  all  the  mischief.  This  very 
helplessness  is  part  and  proof  of  our  wickedness.     Our 


MAN    IS    UTTERLY    HELPLESS.  51 

very  weakness  is  our  crime.  It  is  very  wicked  to  have 
no  right  views  of  God,  to  have  our  minds  full  of  igno- 
rance and  prejudices  against  him,  to  have  no  heart  to 
fear,  love,  or  obey  him,  or  to  fail  to  do  these  things 
perfectly.  Thus  the  Scriptures  abundantly  teach. 
Paul  says  neither  in  the  way  of  boasting,  nor  of  ex- 
cuse, but  in  confession  and  humiliation  :  "  I  know  that 
in  me  (that  is,  in  my  flesh)  dwelleth  no  good  thing : 
for  to  will  is  present  with  me,  but  how  to  perform  that 
which  is  good  I  find  not."  Rom.  vii.  18  and  context. 
"  The  flesh  lusteth  against  the  Spirit,  and  the  Spirit 
against  the  flesh :  and  these  are  contrary  the  one  to 
the  other ;  so  that  ye  cannot  do  the  things  that  ye 
would."  Gal.  v.  17.  He  is  not  expressing  approba- 
tion but  reproof  in  so  speaking  to  the  Galatians.  So 
when  Peter  describes  a  class  of  men,  "  having  eyes  full 
of  adultery,  and  that  cannot  cease  from  sin;"  2  Pet. 
ii.  14,  no  man  will  so  far  pervert  his  meaning  as  to 
say  that  he  is  freeing  these  people  from  blame.  It 
was  in  reproof  that  Christ  said,  u  How  can  ye  believe, 
who  receive  honour  one  of  another  ?"  &c.  In  fact 
there  is  no  deeper  guilt  in  man,  than  that  contracted 
by  having  no  heart  to  do  right.  The  very  essence  of 
filial  impiety  consists  in  having  no  heart  to  love  and 
honour  one's  parents.  The  very  ground  of  impiety  to 
God  is  to  have  no  heart  to  know,  or  love,  or  obey  him. 
To  have  eyes  and  not  see,  to  have  ears  and  not  hear, 
to  have  a  heart  and  not  understand  is  the  very  sin 
Isaiah  charged  on  degenerate  Israel,  the  very  sin  of 
apostate  angels.  If  the  helplessness  induced  by  sin 
were  any  excuse  or  palliation  of  sin,  fallen  angels 
would  be  quite  innocent,  at  least  excusable ;  for  no 
sober  man  will  say  that  they  can  by  any  possibility 
turn  to  God  and  live. 


CHAPTER  VIII 


WITHOUT  DIVINE  GBACE  MEN  DO  NOTHING  BUT  SIN. 

Those,  who  live  in  sin,  sin  all  the  time.  It  is  their 
trade,  and  they  work  hard  at  it.  They  love  it,  and 
are  greedy  of  iniquity.  They  "love  death."  They 
"dig  up  evil."  They  "fill  up  their  sin  always." 
They  "  do  always  resist  the  Holy  Ghost."  Never  for 
an  hour  do  they  love  God  supremely.  They  sin  with- 
out cessation. 

Two  things  are  required  to  make  an  action  right. 
One  is  that  it  be  lawful  in  itself.  The  other  is  that  it 
be  done  with  a  right  motive.  If  the  thing  done  be 
itself  wrong,  no  motives  can  make  it  right.  To  steal, 
or  curse,  or  murder,  or  despise  the  poor,  or  hate  the 
just,  can  never  under  any  circumstances  be  right. 
To  do  evil  that  good  may  come  is  the  doctrine  of  none 
but  devils,  and  the  worst  of  men.  On  the  other  hand 
the  thing  done  may  be  right  in  itself,  but  the  motive, 
which  governs  us,  may  be  wrong,  and  so  the  act  may 
be  sinful  because  the  motive  is  sinful.  Bad  motives 
in  good  actions  are  like  dead  flies  in  sweet  ointments. 
They  corrupt  the  whole.  The  heart  is  everything. 
Most  men  of  the  world  in  Christian  countries  do  many 
things,  which  are  very  proper,  but  not  from  love  to 
God.  No  man,  who  has  not  been  born  again,  ever 
does  anything  with  holy  motives.  His  life  is  better 
than  his  heart.  Indeed  his  heart  is  the  worst  part  of 
him.  It  is  all  wrong.  It  is  hard,  and  proud,  and 
(52) 


WITHOUT   DIVINE   GRACE,  &C.  53. 

selfish,  and  unbelieving,  and  without  any  love  to  God. 
So  far  from  pleasing  God,  all  the  unregenerate  are 
continually  offending  him.  Their  very  best  works  are 
but  "splendid  sins." 

There  are  reasons  found  in  human  nature,  which 
render  it  certain  that  unrenewed  men  will  do  nothing 
but  sin.  They  are  blind  and  see  no  beauty  in  holi- 
ness. They  have  no  spiritual  discernment.  "  They 
have  eyes  but  they  see  not."  "  They  know  not  what 
they  do."  If  they  do  not  see  the  beauty  of  holiness, 
how  can  they  love  it  ?  No  being  can  love  that,  which 
does  not  seem  to  him  good  or  comely. 

The  man,  who  is  without  the  grace  of  God,  never 
fully  approves  the  law  of  God,  as  holy,  just  and  good, 
nor  adopts  it  as  the  rule  of  his  life.  He  does  some 
things  which  it  requires,  and  abstains  from  some 
things  which  it  forbids,  not  because  he  loves  God  or 
his  law,  but  because  it  promotes  his  health,  or  wealth, 
or  honour,  or  quiet,  to  do  so.  God  is  not  in  all  his 
thoughts.  He  would  live  very  much  as  he  does  if  the 
law  of  God  were  not  known  to  him.  Ask  him,  and  he 
will  tell  you  that  he  does  not  aim  with  a  single  eye  to 
honour  God  in  everything.  He  does  not  frame  his 
doings  to  that  end  at  all.  All  the  lines  of  his  con- 
duct meet  and  end  in  himself.  He  is  without  God  in 
the  world.  He  serves  the  creature  more  than  the 
Creator.  Nor  is  his  heart  without  objects  of  love. 
He  loves  the  world  and  the  things  of  the  world. 
When  he  prospers  in  the  things  that  perish,  he  counts 
himself  happy.  He  is  greatly  pleased  with  gold  and 
silver,  and  objects  of  sense,  and  works  of  art.  These 
are  his  gods,  because  he  sets  his  heart  on  them.  He 
5* 


54  WITHOUT   DIVINE   GRACE 

thinks  of  them  ten  times  as  much  and  a  thousand  times 
as  eagerly  as  he  thinks  of  God. 

What  makes  his  case  worse  is  that  he  is  commonly 
much  at  ease.  He  is  well  pleased  with  himself.  He 
is  not  sighing  over  his  failures,  and  lamenting  his  sins. 
He  thinks  he  is  nearly  good  enough.  Rivers  of  water 
never  run  down  his  eyes  for  his  own  sins  or  the  sins 
of  others.  He  seldom  cries,  "  God,  be  merciful  to  me 
a  sinner,"  and  when  he  does,  it  is  rather  a  form  than 
a  hearty  prayer.  His  real  belief  is  that  God  could 
not  righteously  and  for  ever  condemn  him ;  at  least 
he  says,  "  If  I  am  lost,  I  know  not  what  will  become 
of  many  others."  "Would  it  not  be  strange  that  one, 
who  cares  not  to  serve  God,  should  do  it  ?  that  he, 
who  tries  to  please  himself  and  wicked  men,  should  as 
by  accident  please  God  ?  that  he,  who  seeks  the  ho- 
nour that  comes  from  man,  should  find  the  honour  that 
comes  from  God  only  ?  Surely  there  is  no  such  con- 
fusion where  God  reigns.  He  does  not  put  darkness 
for  light,  bitter  for  sweet,  sin  for  holiness,  and  vice  for 
virtue. 

Nor  should  men  be  offended  at  this  doctrine.  It  is 
not  new.  It  is  not  of  human  invention.  It  is  not  the 
doctrine  held  by  a  few  only.  It  is  not  a  mere  theory. 
It  is  very  practical,  very  important.  No  truth  con- 
cerns any  man  more  than  this.  It  is  the  very  doc- 
trine of  the  Bible  in  many  places.  Paul  says  :  "  They 
that  are  after  the  flesh  [who  are  unrenewed  by  God's 
Spirit]  do  mind  the  things  of  the  flesh.  *  *  To  be  car- 
nally-minded is  death.  *  *  The  carnal  [or  unregene- 
rate]  mind  is  enmity  against  God ;  for  it  is  not  sub- 
ject to  the  law  of  God,  neither  indeed  can  be.  So 
then  they  that  are  in  the  flesh  cannot  please  God." 


MEN   DO    NOTHING    BUT  SIN.  55 

Rom.  viii.  5 — 8.  Could  words  be  plainer  or  stronger  ? 
Until  God  shall  be  pleased  with  a  heart  that  is  enmity 
against  him,  and  with  a  mind  that  "  cannot  be  subject" 
to  his  law,  until  he  shall  cease  to  be  a  holy  God,  he 
cannot  be  pleased  with  anything  done  by  a  man  who 
has  not  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  whose  heart  has  not 
been  mightily  changed. 

Ploughing  is  itself  a  lawful  act.  If  there  be  no 
ploughing,  there  can  be  no  bread.  Yet  God  says : 
"The  ploughing  of  the  wicked  is  sin."  Yea,  he  puts 
it  down  with  other  sins,  that  greatly  offend  him.  The 
whole  verse  reads  thus  :  "An  high  look,  and  a  proud 
heart,  and  the  ploughing  of  the  wicked  is  sin."  Prov. 
xxi.  <i.  If  God  had  intended  to  teach  that  everything, 
even  the  most  common  and  necessary  thing  done  by 
wicked  men,  was  sinful,  could  he  have  chosen  more  fit 
words  ? 

But,  here  is  a  passage,  which  shows  that  all  the 
religious  services  of  sinners  are  defiled  with  sin.  "  The 
sacrifice  of  the  wicked  is  an  abomination  to  the  Lord : 
but  the  prayer  of  the  upright  is  his  delight."  There 
are  but  two  classes  of  men  known  in  the  Bible.  They 
are  called  saints  and  sinners,  the  just  and  the  unjust, 
the  righteous  and  the  wicked,  men  of  the  way  and  men 
of  the  world.  Their  end  will  be  different,  because 
their  characters  are  different. 

From  the  earliest  ages  of  the  Christian  church  this 
has  been  the  uniform  doctrine,  held  and  insisted  on 
by  God's  people.  Basil  in  his  treatise  on  baptism 
says  expressly  that  it  is  not  possible,  nor  a  thing 
pleasing  and  acceptable  to  God,  for  one  that  is  the 
servant  of  sin  to  perform  righteousness,  according  to 
the  rule  of  the  saints'  piety.     In  proof  he  urges  these 


56  WITHOUT   DIVIXE    GRACE 

words  of  our  Saviour:  "Let  us  first  make  the  tree 
good,  and  then  the  fruit  will  be  good;"  and  let  us 
"first  make  clean  the  inside  of  the  cup  and  platter," 
and  then  the  outside  "will  be  wholly  clean.  He  also 
refers  to  2  Cor.  vii.  1.  Jerome  says :  "  Let  us  pro- 
nounce our  sentence  against  those  that  do  not  believe 
in  Christ,  and  yet  think  themselves  valiant,  and  wise, 
and  temperate,  and  just,  that  they  may  know  that 
none  can  live  without  Christ,  without  whom  all  virtue 
is  in  vice,"  or  vicious.  Augustine  says:  "Be  it  far 
from  us  to  think  that  true  virtue  should  be  in  any  one, 
unless  he  be  a  righteous  man.  And  let  it  be  as  far 
from  us  to  think  that  any  one  is  truly  righteous,  un- 
less he  live  by  faith."  "All  the  life  of  unbelievers  is 
sin,  and  there  is  nothing  good  without  the  chief  good : 
for  where  the  knowledge  of  the  eternal  and  unchange- 
able truth  is  wanting,  there  is  but  false  virtue  in  the 
best  manners."  Again :  "  The  man  is  first  to  be 
changed,  that  his  works  may  be  changed  ;  for  if  a  man 
remain  in  that  state  that  he  is  evil,  he  cannot  have 
good  works." 

Gregory  says :  "  If  faith  be  not  first  begotten  in  our 
hearts,  all  the  other  things  cannot  be  good,  though 
they  may  seem  good." 

The  Church  of  England  and  the  Protestant  Episco- 
pal Church  in  the  United  States  of  America  do  both 
say  of  works  done  before  the  grace  of  Christ  and 
the  inspiration  of  his  Spirit,  because  "  they  are  not 
done  as  God  hath  willed  and  commanded  them  to  be 
done,  we  doubt  not  but  they  have  the  nature  of  sin." 

The  5th  article  of  the  Church  of  Ireland  contains 
the  same  words  without  alteration.  It  holds  also  this 
language :  "  We  have  no  power  to  do  good  works, 


MEN  DO   NOTHING   BUT   SIN.  57 

pleasing  and  acceptable  unto  God,  without  the  grace 
of  God  preventing  [going  before]  us,  that  we  may 
have  a  good  will,  and  working  with  us  when  we  have 
that  good  will."  It  also  incorporates  these  words  from 
the  Lambeth  Articles  :  "  The  condition  of  man  after 
the  fall  of  Adam  is  such,  that  he  cannot  turn,  and  pre- 
pare himself,  by  his  own  natural  strength  and  good 
works,  to  faith,  and  calling  upon  God.'* 

The  Reformed  Churches  generally  fully  agree  with 
the  above  testimonies. 

The  Synod  of  Dort  says  :  "  There  is  indeed  remain- 
ing in  man,  since  the  fall,  some  light  of  nature,  by  the 
help  of  which,  he  retains  certain  notions  concerning 
God  and  natural  things ;  concerning  the  difference  of 
things  honourable  and  shameful,  and  manifests  some 
desire  after  virtue  and  external  discipline :  but  so  far 
from  his  being  able,  by  this  light  of  nature,  to  attain 
to  the  saving  knowledge  of  God,  or  to  turn  himself  to 
him,  he  does  not  use  it  rightly  in  natural  and  civil 
things :  nay,  indeed,  whatever  thing  it  may  at  length 
be,  he  contaminates  it  all  in  various  ways,  and  holds 
it  in  unrighteousness,  which  when  he  does,  he  is  ren- 
dered inexcusable  before  God." 

The  French  Confession  says :  "Although  man  can 
somewhat  discern  between  good  and  evil,  yet  we  affirm, 
that  whatsoever  light  he  hath,  it  straightway  becometh 
darkness,  when  the  question  is  of  seeking  God,  so  that 
by  his  understanding  and  reason  he  can  never  come  to 
God.  Also,  although  he  be  endued  with  will,  whereby 
he  is  moved  to  this  or  that,  yet  in  as  much  as  it  is 
altogether  captivated  under  sin,  it  hath  no  liberty  at 
all  to  desire  good,  but  such  as  it  hath  received  by 
grace  and  of  the  gift  of  God." 


68  WITHOUT   DIVINE   GRACE 

The  Augsburg  Confession,  which  is  the  standard  of 
the  Lutheran  churches  in  Germany  and  America,  says  : 
"  We  condemn  the  Pelagians  and  all  such  as  they  are, 
who  teach  that  by  the  only  powers  of  nature,  without 
the  Holy  Spirit,  we  may  love  God  above  all,  and  fulfil 
the  law  of  God,  as  touching  the  substance  of  our  ac- 
tions. We  do  freely  and  necessarily  mislike  these 
dreams ;  for  they  do  obscure  the  benefits  of  Christ. 
For  therefore  is  Christ  the  Mediator  set  forth,  and 
mercy  promised  in  the  gospel,  because  that  the  law 
cannot  be  satisfied  by  man's  nature,  as  Paul  witnesseth 
when  he  saith,  (Rom.  viii.)  '  The  wisdom  of  the  flesh 
is  enmity  against  God  ;  for  it  is  not  subject  to  the 
law  of  God,  neither  indeed  can  be.'  For  albeit  that 
man's  nature  by  itself  can  after  some  sort  perform  ex- 
ternal works  (for  it  can  contain  the  hands  from  theft 
and  murder)  yet  can  it  not  make  those  inward  mo- 
tions, as  true  fear,  true  faith,  patience,  and  chastity, 
unless  the  Holy  Ghost  do  govern  and  help  our  hearts. 
And  yet  in  this  place  also  do  we  teach,  that  it  is  also 
the  commandment  of  God,  that  the  carnal  motions 
should  be  restrained  by  the  industry  of  reason  and  by 
civil  discipline,  as  Paul  saith,  *  *  '  The  law  is  given 
to  the  unjust.'"  And  again:  "Albeit  that  men  by 
their  own  strength  be  able  to  do  outward  honest  deeds 
in  some  sort,  and  must  also  perform  this  civil  obedi- 
ence :  yet  so  long  as  men  are  void  of  faith,  they  are 
in  the  power  of  the  devil,  who  driveth  them  to  shame- 
ful sins,  occupieth  their  minds  with  wicked  and  blas- 
phemous opinions,  for  that  is  the  kingdom  and  tyranny 
of  the  devil.  Moreover,  nature  is  wTeak,  and  cannot 
without  God's  help  strengthen  itself  to  any  spiritual 
works." 


MEN  DO   NOTHING  BUT  SIN.  59 

The  Moravian  Confession  says  :  "And  since  through 
faith  the  Holy  Spirit  is  given,  thus  also  the  heart  is 
made  fit  to  do  good  works.  For  before  that,  as  long 
as  it  is  without  the  Holy  Spirit,  it  is  too  weak ;  and 
besides  it  is  in  the  power  of  the  devil,  who  impels  the 
poor  human  nature  to  many  sins.  *  *  *  Without  faith 
and  without  Christ,  human  nature  and  ability  is  far 
too  weak  to  do  good  works ;  as  to  call  upon  God,  to 
show  patience  in  suffering,  to  love  one's  neighbour, 
diligently  to  discharge  offices  entrusted  to  us,  to  be 
obedient,  to  avoid  evil  lusts.  Such  noble  and  truly 
good  works  cannot  be  done  without  the  help  of  Christ, 
as  he  himself  speaks — John  xv.  '  Without  me  ye  can 
do  nothing.'  " 

The  Westminster  Confession  says  :  "  Works  done 
by  unregenerate  men,  although  for  the  matter  of  them 
they  may  be  things  which  God  commands,  and  of  good 
use  both  to  themselves  and  others ;  yet  because  they 
proceed  not  from  a  heart  purified  by  faith  ;  nor  are 
done  in  a  right  manner,  according  to  the  word  ;  nor 
to  a  right  end,  the  glory  of  God ;  they  are  therefore 
sinful,  and  cannot  please  God,  or  make  a  man  meet  to 
receive  grace  from  God.  And  yet  their  neglect  of 
them  is  more  sinful  and  displeasing  unto  God." 

This  article  is  found  without  alteration  in  the  Con- 
fessions of  all  the  Presbyterian  bodies  of  Scotland, 
Ireland,  and  Canada,  and  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States  of  America.  It  was  incorporated 
entire  into  the  Savoy  Confession,  into  the  Saybrook 
Platform,  into  the  London  Baptist  Confession,  into 
the  Philadelphia  Baptist  Confession,  as  well  as  into 
the  Confession  of  numerous  smaller  bodies  in  this  and 
other  countries. 


GO  WITHOUT   DIVINE   GRACE 

The  eighth  article  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South, 
and  of  the  Protestant  Methodist  Church  in  the  United 
States,  is  in  these  words  : 

"  The  condition  of  man  after  the  fall  of  Adam  is 
such,  that  he  cannot  turn  and  prepare  himself  by  his 
own  natural  strength  and  works  to  faith,  and  calling 
upon  God :  wherefore  we  have  no  power  to  do  good 
works,  pleasant  and  acceptable  to  God,  without  the 
grace  of  God  by  Christ  preventing  us,  that  we  may 
have  that  good  will,  and  working  with  us,  when  we 
have  that  good  will." 

The  Confession  of  Sueveland  says :  "  Good  works 
(which  are  good  indeed)  do  proceed  from  a  lively  faith, 
by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  are  done  of  the  faithful  ac- 
cording to  the  will  or  rule  of  God's  word." 

The  Confession  of  Basle  says  :  "  The  Lord  himself 
saith,  '  Without  me  ye  can  do  nothing ;'  John  xv.  5 ; 
that  is,  nothing  that  may  please  God  and  be  for  your 
salvation.  *  *  Faith  and  love  are  the  fountain  and 
square  of  all  virtues  and  good  works,  according  to  the 
testimony  of  the  Apostle  :  '  The  end  of  the  command- 
ment is  love,  out  of  a  pure  heart,  and  a  good  con- 
science, and  faith  not  feigned.'  1  Tim.  i.  5.  And 
again:  'Without  faith  it  is  impossible  to  please  God.' 
Heb.  xi.  6." 

The  Confession  of  Belgia  says :  "  We  are  justified 
by  faith  in  Christ,  yea,  even  before  such  time  as  we 
could  bring  forth  any  good  work :  for  our  works  before 
faith  can  no  more  be  good,  than  the  fruit  of  a  tree  can 
be  good,  before  the  tree  itself  be  good." 

The  Confession  of  Saxony  says :  "External  disci- 
pline, even  where  it  is  most  honest,  is  not  a  fulfilling  of 


MEN  DO  NOTHING  BUT  SIN.  61 

the  law.  *  *  But  all  this  discipline  is  an  external 
government,  such  as  it  is ;  like  unto  the  leaf  of  the 
fig-tree,  wherewith  our  first  parents,  after  their  fall, 
did  cover  their  nakedness :  neither  doth  it  any  more 
take  away  sin,  and  the  corruption  of  nature,  and 
death,  than  those  fig-leaves  did." 

The  Confession  of  Wirtemberg  says :  "  "We  confess 
and  believe  that  to  do  and  practise  such  righteousness 
as  is  acceptable  to  God,  these  virtues  be  necessary — 
faith,  hope,  and  love  :  and  that  man  cannot  of  himself 
conceive  these  virtues,  but  doth  receive  them  of  the 
favour  and  grace  of  God." 

These  extracts  from  the  standards  of  different  bodies 
of  Christians  might  have  been  much  more  extended. 
They  are,  however,  sufficient  to  show  that  the  doctrine 
here  set  forth  is  not  novel ;  is  not  the  doctrine  of  a 
few  extreme  writers,  but  is  the  common  doctrine  of 
the  purest  and  most  zealous  churches.  The  fair  argu- 
ments used  and  the  texts  quoted  in  these  Confessions 
do  mightily  strengthen  the  arguments  and  proofs  be- 
fore quoted.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  it  has 
been  fairly  and  scripturally  proven,  that  unregenerate 
men  do  sin  always,  and  that  none  of  them  do  anything 
but  sin  against  God. 

Is  not  the  misery  of  an  unregenerate  state  indescri- 
bable and  unfathomable  ?  No  wonder  that  pious  Ezra, 
having  some  just  sense  of  the  evil  of  sin,  and  the  vile- 
ness  of  men,  "  did  eat  no  bread,  nor  drink  water  be- 
cause of  the  transgression  of  them  that  had  been  car- 
ried away."  No  wonder  that  Jeremiah  said  of  the 
wicked  of  his  day  :  "  If  ye  will  not  hear  it,  my  soul 
shall  weep  in  secret  places."  Even  Daniel  "was 
astonied  for  one  hour  and  his  thoughts  troubled 
6 


62  WITHOUT  DIVINE   GRACE,   &C. 


him,"  when  he  foresaw  the  ruin  which  the  king  of  Ba- 
bylon was  about  to  bring  on  himself  by  his  royal  crimes. 
All  the  unregenerate  do  nothing  but  sin.  If  for  a  while 
they  seem  to  reform,  they  soon  return  to  their  wicked- 
ness, as  the  dog  to  his  vomit,  or  the  sow  that  was  washed 
to  her  wallowing  in  the  mire.  All  their  goodness  is  as 
the  morning  cloud ;  as  the  early  dew  it  passeth  away. 
They  sometimes  return  from  outward  acts  of  sin ;  but 
they  return  not  unto  the  Lord.  When  the  unclean 
spirit  is  gone  out  of  a  man  and  returns  again,  "  the 
last  state  of  that  man  is  worse  than  the  first."  Matt. 
xii.  45.  Neither  mercies,  nor  judgments,  nor  promises, 
nor  threatenings,  nor  hopes,  nor  fears,  without  the 
grace  and  spirit  of  Christ,  will  or  can  ever  cure  the 
love,  or  arrest  the  practice,  of  sin. 


CHAPTER    IX 


THE   CORRUPTION   OF   MAN   IS   HEREDITARY. 

No  mere  man  was  ever  born  without  a  sinful  na- 
ture. The  Son  of  God  miraculously  derived  his  hu- 
man nature  from  his  mother  alone,  and  escaped  the 
taint  of  original  sin.  Mary  herself  however  was  a 
sinner  and  needed  a  Saviour,  as  she  readily  confessed. 
Luke  i.  47.  As  Eusebius  Emesenus  said,  "  the  mo- 
ther of  the  Redeemer  is  not  otherwise  loosed  from  the 
bonds  of  ancient  sin,  than  by  redemption."  All  the 
Pope's  letters  on  this  subject  about  the  middle  of  the 
nineteenth  century  are  idle  dreams.  Every  human 
being  whose  descent  has  been  in  the  ordinary  way  has 
inherited  a  corrupt  nature.  The  faith  of  the  people 
of  God  on  this  subject  has  been  as  uniform  as  on  any 
other  truth  of  the  Gospel.  In  Psa.  li.  5,  in  the  midst 
of  the  humblest  and  most  penitent  confessions,  David 
says :  "  Behold,  I  was  shapen  in  iniquity,  and  in  sin 
did  my  mother  conceive  me."  All  attempts  to  set 
aside  the  clear  teachings  of  this  passage  have  been 
such  as  rather  to  shock  by  their  profaneness,  than  to 
deceive  by  their  plausibility.  Sound  commentators 
have  been  wonderfully  agreed  as  to  the  teaching  of 
this  verse.  Ambrose  says  :  "All  are  born  in  sin,  as 
David  witnesseth,"  and  then  quotes  these  words.  Lu- 
ther says :  "  It  is  a  great  part  of  wisdom,  for  one  to 

(63) 


64        THE   CORRUPTION    OF    MAN    IS   HEREDITARY. 

know,  that  there  is  nothing  good  in  us,  but  vain  sin, 
that  we  do  not  think  and  speak  so  triflingly  of  sin  as 
those,  who  say  that  it  is  nothing  else  than  the  thoughts, 
words,  and  deeds,  which  are  contrary  to  the  law  of 
God.  But  if  thou  wilt  rightly  point  out  according  to 
this  Psalm,  what  sin  is,  thou  must  say,  that  all  is  sin, 
which  is  born  of  father  and  mother,  even  before  the 
time  that  man  is  of  age  to  know  what  to  do,  speak,  or 
think."  Calvin  says:  u David  does  not  confess  him- 
self guilty  merely  of  some  one  or  more  sins,  as  for- 
merly, but  he  rises  higher,  that  from  his  mother's 
womb  he  has  brought  forth  nothing  but  sin,  and  by 
nature  is  wholly  corrupt,  and,  as  it  were,  immersed  in 
sin.  And  certainly  we  have  no  solid  conviction  of  sin, 
unless  we  are  led  to  accuse  our  whole  nature  of  cor- 
ruption." Perhaps  in  all  his  writings  this  great  man 
has  not  made  a  remark  more  fully  coincident  with  re- 
ligious experience,  and  of  more  weight  in  personal 
piety  than  the  last  sentence  quoted  from  him:  "Cer- 
tainly we  have  no  solid  conviction  of  sin,  unless  we  are 
led  to  accuse  our  whole  nature  of  corruption."  Bishop 
Patrick's  paraphrase  of  the  verse  is :  "  It  is  true  in- 
deed, and  thou,  0  Lord,  knowest  it  better  than  I,  that 
there  is  in  me  an  innate  proneness  to  evil ;  but  I  am 
so  far  from  representing  this  as  an  excuse  for  what  I 
have  done,  that  I  confess  the  consideration  of  it  ought 
to  have  rendered  me  the  more  watchful  and  diligent 
to  suppress  those  bad  inclinations ;  which  I  knew  to 
be  so  natural,  that  I  brought  them  into  the  world  with 
me." 

Bishop  Home  says  :  "  The  divine  mercy  is  implored 
by  the  penitent,  fourthly,  because  that  alone  can  dry 
up  the  fountain  of  original  corruption,  from  which  the 


/ 

THE   CORRUPTION   OF   MAN   IS   HEREDITARY.        65 

streams  of  actual  transgression  derive  themselves ;  and 
which  is  here  only  lamented  as  their  cause,  not  as 
their  excuse ;  seeing  that  the  greater  our  danger  is  of 
falling,  the  greater  should  be  our  care  to  stand.  Da- 
vid was  the  offspring  of  the  marriage-bed,  which  is 
declared  to  be  *  honourable  and  undefiled.'  No  more, 
therefore,  can  be  intended  here,  than  that  a  creature 
begotten  by  a  sinner,  and  formed  in  the  womb  of  a 
sinner,  cannot  be  without  that  taint,  which  is  here- 
ditary to  every  son  and  daughter  of  Adam  and  Eve." 

Matthew  Henry  says :  "  He  confesses  his  original 
corruption."  *  *  "  He  elsewhere  speaks  of  the  piety  of 
his  mother,  that  she  was  God's  handmaid,  and  he 
pleads  his  relation  to  her,  (Psa.  cxvi.  16,  and  lxxxvi.  16,) 
and  yet  he  here  says  she  conceived  him  in  sin ;  for 
though  she  was,  by  grace,  a  child  of  God,  she  was  by 
nature  a  daughter  of  Eve,  and  not  excepted  from  the 
common  character.  Note,  It  is  to  be  sadly  lamented 
by  every  one  of  us  that  we  brought  into  the  world 
with  us  a  corrupt  nature,  wretchedly  degenerated  from 
its  primitive  purity  and  rectitude." 

Dr.  Scott  says  that  David,  "  having  received  from 
his  parents  Adam's  fallen  nature  with  all  its  evil  pro- 
pensities, confesses  that  he  was  conceived  and  shapen 
in  iniquity." 

Hengstenberg  says  that  the  doctrine  of  original  sin 
is  so  plainly  taught  here,  "  that  nothing  but  the  most 
confused  mind  can  deny  it.  For  when  David  con- 
fesses, that  even  before  the  development  of  his  con- 
sciousness, before  the  time  of  his  distinguishing  be- 
tween good  and  evil,  that  even,  at  his  birth,  nay  at  his 
very  conception,  sin  dwelt  in  him,  and  had  so  poisoned 
his  nature,  that  he  was  quite  incapable  of  attaining  to 
6* 


66        THE   CORRUPTION   OF   MAN   IS   HEREDITARY. 

true  righteousness  and  wisdom ;  he  places  himself  in 
direct  collision  with  those,  who  consider  sin  merely  as 
a  product  of  the  abused  freedom  of  each  individual, 
and  leaves  room  for  no  other  derivation  of  sinfulness 
than  this,  that  it  goes  down  from  parents  to  their  child- 
ren, according  to  the  word,  '  what  is  born  of  the  flesh 
is  flesh.'  " 

Dr.  J.  A.  Alexander  says :  "  Having  just  before 
confessed  his  actual  transgressions,  he  now  acknow- 
ledges the  corruption  of  his  nature." 

Theologians  no  less  than  commentators  have  taken 
the  same  view  of  this  text.  Even  John  Taylor  of 
Norwich  admits  that  the  first  clause  is  correctly  trans- 
lated "  I  was  born  in  sin."  Whereupon  Edwards  well 
says,  "  If  it  is  owned  that  man  is  born  in  sin,  it  is  not 
worth  the  while  to  dispute,  whether  it  is  expressly 
asserted  that  he  is  conceived  in  sin."  Bishop  Beve- 
ridge  says,  "  Sin  was  in  his  heart,  whilst  he  was  in  his 
mother's  womb ;  for  seeing  he  was  conceived  in  sin, 
sin  must  needs  be  conceived  in  him."  Alexander  Hill 
says  :  "  The  Scriptures  not  only  declare  that  all  have 
sinned,  but  they  seem  to  refer  the  abounding  of  ini- 
quity to  a  cause  antecedent  to  education,  example  or 
the  operation  of  particular  circumstances;  and  in 
numberless  places  they  represent  the  nature  of  man  as 
corrupt.  Of  this  kind  are  the  following  :  '  The  ima- 
gination of  man's  heart  is  evil  from  his  youth.'  'Be- 
hold I  was  shapen  in  iniquity,  and  in  sin  did  my  mo- 
ther conceive  me.'  '  The  wicked  are  estranged  from 
the  womb,  they  go  astray  as  soon  as  they  be  born, 
speaking  lies.'  'Who  can  bring  a  clean  thing  out 
of  an  unclean  ?  Not  one.'  "  Dr.  Leonard  Woods  of 
Andover  says :  "  Is  it  not  a  plain  matter  of  fact,  that 


THE   CORRUPTION   OF   MAN   IS   HEREDITARY.        67 

a  depraved  nature,  a  propensity  to  sin,  is  transmitted 
from  parent  to  child,  and  has  descended  from  the  com- 
mon ancestor  of  our  race  to  all  his  posterity  ?  Are 
we  not  '  degenerate  plants  of  a  strange  vine  V  And 
if  depravity  comes  in  this  way,  what  impropriety  is 
there  in  calling  it  hereditary  ?"  These  views  have 
been  presented  chiefly  in  connection  with  one  text  of 
Scripture,  rather  than  to  call  attention  to  many.  If 
any  prefer  to  examine  others,  they  are  easily  found. 
The  true  spirit  of  David's  confession  in  Psa.  li.  5  is 
fully  coincident  with  the  sentiments  of  every  deeply 
humble  and  penitent  man  that  ever  lived. 

Different  Christian  Churches  have  spoken  very 
strongly  and  harmoniously  on  the  subject  of  native 
depravity.  The  Confession  of  Bohemia  says:  "A  se- 
cond kind  of  sin  is  original  sin,  naturally  engendered 
in  us,  and  hereditary ;  wherein  we  are  all  conceived 
and  born  into  this  world."  The  Confession  of  France 
says:  "We  believe  that  all  the  offspring  of  Adam  is 
infected  with  this  contagion,  which  we  call  original 
sin :  that  is  a  stain  spreading  itself  by  propagation, 
and  not  by  imitation  only  as  the  Pelagians  thought ; 
all  whose  errors  we  do  detest.  Neither  do  we  think  it 
necessary  to  search  how  this  sin  may  be  derived  from 
one  unto  another.  For  it  is  sufficient  that  those  things 
which  God  gave  unto  Adam,  were  not  given  to  him 
alone,  but  also  to  all  his  posterity ;  and  therefore  we, 
in  his  person,  being  deprived  of  all  these  good  gifts 
are  fallen  into  all  this  misery  and  curse." 

The  Confession  of  England  holds  this  language  : 
"  We  say  also  that  every  person  is  born  in  sin,  and 
leadeth  his  life  in  sin :  that  nobody  is  able  truly  to 
say  his  heart  is  clean."     The  Confession  of  Scotland 


68       THE   CORRUPTION   OF   MAN   IS   HEREDITARY. 

says  that  by  the  fall  "  the  image  of  God  was  utterly 
defaced  in  man ;  and  he,  and  his  posterity  of  nature 
became  enemies  to  God,  slaves  to  Satan,  and  servants 
to  sin."  The  Confession  of  Belgia  teaches  that,  "  Ori- 
ginal sin  is  a  corruption  of  the  whole  nature,  and  an 
hereditary  evil ;  wherewith  even  the  very  infants  in 
their  mothers'  womb  are  polluted ;  (Psa.  li.  5,)  the 
which  also  as  a  most  noisome  root  doth  branch  out 
most  abundantly  all  kind  of  sin  in  man.''  The  Augs- 
burg Confession  says  that  "  after  the  fall  of  Adam,  all 
men  descended  one  from  another  after  a  natural  man- 
ner have  original  sin,  even  when  they  are  born."  The 
Confession  of  Saxony  says :  "  As  touching  original 
sin,  we  do  plainly  affirm  that  we  do  retain  the  consent 
of  the  true  Church  of  God,  delivered  to  us  from  the 
first  fathers,  prophets,  apostles,  and  the  apostles' 
scholars,  even  unto  Augustine,  and  after  his  time,  and 
we  do  expressly  condemn  Pelagius,  and  all  those,  who 
have  scattered  in  the  Church  like  doting  follies."  The 
Confession  of  Wirtemberg  says :  "  We  believe  and 
confess  that  in  the  beginning,  man  was  created  of  God, 
just,  wise,  endued  with  free  will,  adorned  with  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  happy ;  but  that  afterwards  for  his 
disobedience,  he  was  deprived  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
made  the  bondman  of  Satan,  and  subject  both  to  cor- 
poral and  eternal  damnation  ;  and  that  evil  did  not 
stay  in  one  only  Adam,  but  was  derived  into  all  the 
posterity."  The  Church  of  England,  the  Church  of 
Ireland,  and  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Churches  all  hold 
this  language :  "  Original  sin  standeth  not  in  the  fol- 
lowing of  Adam  (as  the  Pelagians  do  vainly  talk)  but 
in  the  corruption  of  the  nature  of  every  man,  that 
naturally  is  engendered  of  the   offspring  of  Adam, 


THE    CORRUPTION    OF   MAN    IS   HEREDITARY.        69 

"whereby  man  is  very  far  [Latin  edition,  quam  longis- 
sim^]  gone  from  original  righteousness,  and  of  his  own 
nature  inclined  to  evil  and  that  continually."  The 
Synod  of  Dort  says :  "  Such  as  man  was  after  the  fall, 
such  children  he  begat ;  namely,  a  corrupt  issue  from 
a  corrupt  father ;  this  corruption  being  by  the  just 
judgment  of  God  derived  from  Adam  to  all  his  poste- 
rity (Christ  only  excepted)  and  that  not  by  imitation 
(as  of  old  the  Pelagians  would  have  it),  but  by  the 
propagation  of  nature."  The  London  and  Philadel- 
phia Baptist,  the  Savoy,  Cambridge  and  Boston  Con- 
gregational, and  the  Presbyterian  Confessions  in  Great 
Britain  and  America,  say  that  a  "corrupted  nature  is 
conveyed  to  all  the  posterity  of  our  first  parents,"  and 
that  thereby  "  we  are  utterly  indisposed,  disabled,  and 
made  opposite  to  all  good,  and  wholly  inclined  to  all 
evil." 

The  Heidelberg  Catechism,  speaking  of  the  misery 
of  man,  says : 
"3.  Whence  knowest  thou  thy  misery? 

Out  of  the  law  of  God. 

4.  What  doth  the  law  of  God  require  of  us  ? 
Christ   teacheth   us   briefly,   (Matt.  xxii.  87 — 40,) 

"  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart, 
with  all  thy  soul,  with  all  thy  mind,  and  wTith  all  thy 
strength.  This  is  the  first  and  the  great  command ; 
and  the  second  is  like  to  this :  Thou  shalt  love  thy 
neighbour  as  thyself.  On  these  two  commands  hang 
the  whole  law  and  the  prophets." 

5.  Canst  thou  keep  all  these  things  perfectly'? 

In  no  wise ;  for  I  am  prone  by  nature  to  hate  God 
and  my  neighbour* 


70       THE    CORRUPTION    OF   MAN   IS   HEREDITARY. 

6.  Did  God  then  create  man  so  wicked  and  per- 
verse ? 

By  no  means,  but  God  created  man  good,  and  after 
his  own  image,  in  righteousness  and  true  holiness,  that 
he  might  rightly  know  God  his  Creator,  heartily  love 
him,  and  live  with  him  in  eternal  happiness,  to  glorify 
him  and  praise  him. 

7.  Whence,  then,  proceeds  this  depravity  of  human 
nature  ? 

From  the  fall  and  disobedience  of  our  first  parents, 
Adam  and  Eve,  in  Paradise ;  hence  our  nature  is  be- 
come so  corrupt,  that  we  are  all  conceived  and  born 
in  sin. 

8.  Are  we  then  so  corrupt  that  we  are  wholly  inca- 
pable of  doing  any  good,  and  inclined  to  all  wicked- 
ness ? 

Indeed  we  are,  except  we  are  regenerated  by  the 
Spirit  of  God. 

9.  Doth  not  God  then  do  injustice  to  man,  by  re- 
quiring of  him,  in  his  law,  that  which  he  cannot  per- 
form ? 

Not  at  all ;  for  God  made  man  capable  of  perform- 
ing it ;  but  man,  by  the  instigation  of  the  devil,  and 
his  own  wilful  disobedience,  deprived  himself  and  all 
his  posterity  of  those  divine  gifts. 

10.  Will  God  suffer  such  disobedience  and  rebellion 
to  go  unpunished  ? 

By  no  means,  but  he  is  terribly  displeased  with  our 
original  as  well  as  actual  sins  ;  and  will  punish  them 
in  his  just  judgment  temporally  and  eternally,  as  he 
hath  declared,  "  Cursed  is  every  one  that  continueth 
not  in  all  things  which  are  written  in  the  book  of  the 
law,  to  do  them." 


THE   CORRUPTION   OF   MAN  IS   HEREDITARY.       71 

11.  Is  not  God  then  also  merciful  ? 

God  is  indeed  merciful,  but  also  just ;  therefore  his 
justice  requires  that  sin,  which  is  committed  against 
the  most  high  majesty  of  God,  be  also  punished  with 
extreme,  that  is,  with  everlasting  punishment,  both  of 
body  and  soul." 

John  Wesley  says,  "  If,  therefore,  we  take  away 
this  foundation,  that  man  is  by  nature  foolish  and  sin- 
ful, fallen  short  of  the  glorious  image  of  God,  the 
Christian  system  falls  at  once  ;  nor  will  it  deserve  so 
honourable  an  appellation  as  that  of  a  '  cunningly  de- 
vised fable.' " 

Richard  "Watson  says :  "  The  true  Arminian,  as 
fully  as  the  Calvinist,  admits  the  doctrine  of  the  total 
depravity  of  human  nature  in  consequence  of  the  fall 
of  our  first  parents."  Anninius,  speaking  of  the  first 
sin  of  the  first  man,  says:  "  The  whole  of  this  sin  is 
not  peculiar  to  our  first  parents,  but  is  common  to  the 
whole  race,  and  to  all  their  posterity,  who  at  the  time 
when  the  first  sin  was  committed,  were  in  their  loins, 
and  who  afterwards  descended  from  them  in  the  natu- 
ral mode  of  propagation." 

Richard  Baxter  says  :  "  You  cannot  exempt  infants 
themselves  from  sin  and  misery  without  exempting 
them  from  Christ  the  Redeemer,  and  the  remedy.' ' 
"If  infants  have  no  sin  and  misery,  then  they  are 
none  of  the  body,  the  church,  which  Christ  loved  and 
gave  himself  for,  that  he  might  cleanse  it." 

Beveridge  says  :  "Adam  begat  Seth  and  all  his  pos- 
terity in  his  own  likeness,  (Gen.  v.  3,)  and,  if  in  his 
own  likeness,  then  sinners  like  himself.  A  wolf  be- 
gets wolves,  not  lambs ;  so  a  sinner  begat  sinners,  not 
saints." 

Corrupt  as  is  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  false  as  is 


72       THE   CORRUPTION   OF   MAN   IS   HEREDITARY. 

her  system  of  doctrine  by  reason  of  countless  human 
inventions  and  idle  traditions,  yet  she  has  never  de- 
nied original  sin.  The  Council  of  Trent  did  "  decree, 
confess,  and  declare"  that  any  man  fatally  errs,  "  who- 
soever shall  affirm  that  Adam's  prevarication  injured 
himself  only,  and  not  his  posterity,  and  that  he  lost 
the  purity  and  righteousness,  which  he  had  received 
from  God,  for  himself  only,  and  not  also  for  us ;  or 
that  when  he  became  polluted  by  disobedience  he 
transmitted  to  all  mankind  corporal  death  and  punish- 
ment only,  but  not  sin  also  which  is  the  death  of  the 
soul."  The  great  champion  of  that  Church,  Bellar- 
mine,  in  his  commentary  on  the  Psalms,  remarking  on 
these  words,  "Behold  I  was  shapen  in  iniquity,  and  in 
sin  did  my  mother  conceive  me"  says  that  David  was 
speaking  of  our  "  first  origin,  and  of  the  sin  of  the  first 
man  transfused  into  us  by  generation,  from  which  we 
have  become  weak  and  prone  to  sin."  And  he  brings 
in  St.  Augustine  arguing  for  the  same  sense  because 
David  was  the  fruit  of  a  lawful  and  "  chaste  marriage 
between  his  pious  parents."  In  like  manner  Bossuet 
says :  "  David  was  descended  from  Jesse,  a  just  man, 
and  from  his  wife.  Why  therefore  does  he  say  that 
he  had  been  conceived  in  sin,  except  that  he  had  taken 
the  person  of  human  kind,  had  his  mind  turned  to  the 
fetters,  which  bind  all,  and  had  adverted  to  the  stock 
or  fountain  of  death,  the  origin  of  iniquity  ?" 

Let  the  celebrated  saying  of  Augustine  not  be  for- 
gotten :  "  Neither  the  guilty  unbeliever,  nor  the  justi- 
fied believer  begets  innocent  but  guilty  children ;  be- 
cause the  generation  of  both  is  from  corrupted  nature." 
Nor  is  the  remark  of  Calvin  less  weighty :  "  Original 
sin  is  properly  accounted  sin  in  the  sight  of  God,  be- 
cause there  could  be  no  guilt  without  crime." 


THE   CORRUPTION    OF   MAN   IS    HEREDITARY.        73 

As  frequent  allusion  is  made  to  the  Pelagians  it  may- 
be useful  here  to  insert  their  opinions  on  the  subject 
of  the  native  corruption  of  man.  Pelagius  says  :  "In 
our  birth  we  are  equally  destitute  of  virtue  and  vice ; 
and  previously  to  moral  agency,  there  is  nothing  in 
man,  but  that  which  God  created  in  him."  His  dis- 
ciple Coelestius  held  that  "  infants  are  born  in  that 
state  in  which  Adam  was  before  he  sinned."  Julian, 
another  of  the  same  school,  held  that  "  human  nature 
in  the  time  of  our  being  born  is  rich  in  the  gift  of  inno- 
cence ;"  and  "  nobody  is  born  with  sin."  It  is  a  very 
favourite  idea  with  all  Pelagians  that  sin  consists  only 
in  acts,  and  is  a  voluntary  transgression  of  known  law 
and  nothing  else.  Thus  Pelagius  himself  says  :  "  It 
is  disputed  concerning  nature,  whether  it  is  debilitated 
or  deteriorated  by  sin.  And  here,  in  my  opinion,  the 
first  inquiry  ought  to  be,  what  is  sin  ?  Is  it  a  sub- 
stance, or  is  it  a  mere  name  devoid  of  substance ;  not 
a  thing,  not  an  existence,  not  a  body,  nor  anything 
else  (which  has  a  separate  existence)  but  an  act ;  and 
if  this  is  its  nature,  as  I  believe  it  is,  how  could  that 
which  is  devoid  of  substance  debilitate  or  change  hu- 
man nature?"  In  reading  such  a  clause  one  almost 
imagines  himself  listening  to  the  lectures  of  an  Ame- 
rican heresiarch,  labouring  to  prove  that  all  sin  consists 
in  acts.  As  to  the  text  of  Scripture,  on  which  such 
rely,  it  should  be  remembered  that  while  we  read  "  sin 
is  the  transgression  of  the  law;"  (1  John  iii.  4,)  the 
word  rendered  " transgression"  is  literally  "want  of 
conformity,"  and  no  one  denies  that  sin  is  either  a 
transgression  of  law,  or  a  want  of  conformity  to  it. 
The  same  inspired  apostle  tells  us  that  "all  unrighteous- 
ness is  sin."  1  John  v.  17. 
7 


CHAPTER   X 


MEN    ARE    GUILTY. — IMPUTATION    OF    ADAM  S    SIN. — 
ACTUAL    SINS. 

In  all  inquiries  it  is  important  to  understand  the  use 
of  terms.  This  is  quite  true  when  we  speak  of  guilt 
and  of  being  guilty.  The  word  guilt  sometimes  sig- 
nifies a  crime,  an  offence,  a  sin.  In  colloquial  use  this 
sense  is  common.  So  when  we  speak  of  guilty  con- 
duct, we  mean  it  is  sinful,  or  criminal  conduct.  Some- 
times the  word  guilt  is  taken  in  the  sense  of  conscious- 
ness of  guilt.  This  is  an  improper  but  not  an  uncom- 
mon use  of  the  word.  Thus  when  a  man  is  said  to  be 
borne  down  by  his  guilt,  the  meaning  often  is  that  he 
is  oppressed  by  a  sense  of  his  sinfulness.  Again,  guilt 
is  the  state  of  a  man  justly  charged  with  a  crime.  In 
this  sense  he,  who  has  done  the  deed  charged  in  an 
indictment,  is  said  to  be  guilty.  The  charge  is  true 
of  him.  Again,  guilt  signifies  exposure  to  forfeiture, 
or  penalty,  on  account  of  some  law  violated.  Thus 
Kent  says,  "A  ship  incurs  guilt  by  the  violation  of  a 
blockade."  This  was  by  far  the  most  common  sense 
of  the  word  when  our  English  translation  of  the  Bible 
was  made.  Accordingly  we  there  find  the  phrase 
"  guilty  of  death,"  which  evidently  means  justly  liable 
to  the  penalty  of  death.  Indeed  our  word,  guilt,  is 
derived  from  the  Saxon,  gylt,  which  signifies  a  fine  or 
a  debt.  To  pay  a  gylt  was  to  pay  a  debt  or  fine. 
(74) 


MEN   ARE    GUILTY.  75 

This  is  also  by  far  the  most  common  sense  of  the  word 
as  used  by  theologians.  Thus  Edwards  in  his  treatise 
on  original  sin  says :  "  Universal  guilt  of  sin  might 
also  be  demonstrated  from  the  appointment,  and  the 
declared  use  and  end  of  the  ancient  sacrifices ;  and 
also  from  the  ransom  which  every  one  that  was  num- 
bered in  Israel  was  directed  to  pay,  to  make  atone- 
ment for  his  soul."  So  also  Ridgley  says  :  "  Forgive- 
ness of  sin,  without  a  right  to  eternal  life,  would  ren- 
der our  justification  incomplete ;  therefore,  when  any 
one  is  pardoned  by  an  act  of  grace,  he  is  put  in  pos- 
session of  that  which,  by  his  rebellion,  he  had  for- 
feited ;  he  is  considered,  not  only  as  released  out  of 
prison,  but  as  one  who  has  the  privileges  of  a  subject, 
such  as  those  which  he  had  before  he  committed  the 
crime.  Without  this  he  would  be  like  Absalom,  when, 
upon  Joab's  intercession  with  David,  the  guilt  of  mur- 
der, which  he  had  contracted,  was  remitted  so  far,  as 
that  he  had  liberty  to  return  from  Geshur,  whither  he 
was  fled ;  nevertheless,  he  reckons  himself  not  fully 
discharged  from  the  guilt  he  had  contracted,  and  con- 
cludes his  return  to  Jerusalem,  as  it  were,  an  insignifi- 
cant privilege,  unless,  by  being  admitted  to  see  the 
king's  face,  and  enjoy  the  privileges,  which  he  was 
possessed  of  before?  he  might  be  dealt  with  as  one  who 
was  taken  into  favour,  as  well  as  forgiven."  These  are 
but  specimens  of  the  proof  at  hand  that  theologians 
use  the  term  guilt  in  the  sense  of  exposure  to  penal 
suffering.  In  this  sense  it  is  commonly  used  in  this 
chapter.  By  saying  that  men  are  dreadfully  guilty,  it 
is  taught  that  they  are  justly  exposed  and  fairly  liable 
to  dreadful  penal  sufferings. 

Man  is  not  only  vile  and  helpless,  he  is  also  guilty. 


76  MEN  ARE   GUILTY. 

He  is  not  only  depraved  and  without  strength,  he  is 
also  condemned.  The  wicked  not  only  have  their  con- 
sciences to  clamour  against  them,  but  God  is  angry 
with  them  every  day.  Inspiration  has  settled  it  that 
we  are  "  by  nature  the  children  of  wrath  even  as 
others.''  Eph.  n.  8.  Yes,  by  nature  we  are  under 
wrath.  To  be  a  child  of  sorrow  is  to  be  subject  to 
sorrow.  To  be  a  child  of  wrath  is  to  be  subject  to 
wrath.  This  doctrine  is  taught  in  the  most  explicit 
terms.  Paul  says  :  "  By  one  man  sin  entered  into  the 
world  and  death  by  sin  ;"  "  Through  the  offence  of 
one  many  be  dead;"  "The  judgment  was  by  one  to 
condemnation  ;"  "  By  one  man's  offence  death  reigned 
by  one  ;"  "  By  the  offence  of  one  judgment  came  upon 
all  men  to  condemnation  ;"  "By  one  man's  disobedi- 
ence many  were  made  sinners  ;"  Rom.  v.  12 — 19.  "In 
Adam  all  die."  1  Cor.  xv.  22.  Clearer  and  more  va- 
ried terms  could  not  be  required  to  teach  us  that  we 
are  by  nature  under  a  curse,  liable  to  wrath,  suffering 
a  penalty.  So  the  Church  of  Christ  has  always  un- 
derstood the  sacred  writers.  This  appears  by  many 
monuments  of  ancient  and  modern  times. 

Cyprian  says :  "  There  were  before  Christ  also  fa- 
mous men,  prophets  and  priests ;  but  being  conceived 
and  born  in  sin,  they  wanted  neither  original  nor  per- 
sonal guilt."  Jerome  says  :  "All  men  are  held  to  be 
guilty,  either  in  consequence  of  the  sin  of  Adam,  their 
ancient  progenitor,  or  by  their  own  personal  act." 
So  also  the  great  weight  of  Augustine's  arguments  fell 
upon  and  crushed  the  favourite  dogma  of  Pelagius, 
"  that  the  consequences  of  Adam's  sin  were  confined 
to  his  own  person."  He  says  :  "We  were  all  in  that 
one  man,  when  he,  being  one,  corrupted  us  all."     He 


IMPUTATION    OF   ADAM'S    SIN.  77 

also  thus  defended  himself  against  the  perversions  of 
his  views :  "  The  opinion  which  I  delivered,  that  sin 
injures  no  nature  but  that  in  which  it  is  committed, 
the  Pelagians  apply  to  the  support  of  their  own  doc- 
trine, that  little  children  cannot  be  hurt  by  the  sin  of 
another,  but  only  by  their  own ;  but  considering  that, 
as  they  belong  to  human  nature,  which  has  contracted 
original  sin,  for  human  nature  sinned  in  our  first  pa- 
rents, it  is  true,  therefore,  that  no  sins  can  hurt  human 
nature  but  its  own."  In  fact  a  denial  of  the  federal 
headship  of  Adam  has  commonly  been  followed  by  de- 
nying the  federal  headship  of  Christ.  Although  the 
enemies  of  truth  are  often  rancorous  in  their  opposi- 
tion to  the  doctrine  of  our  representation  in  Adam, 
yet  the  Church  of  God  has  never  been  ashamed  of  it. 
The  Latter  Confession  of  Helvetia  having  spoken  of 
the  fall  of  man  into  sin,  death,  and  divers  calamities, 
says  :  "By  death  we  understand  not  only  bodily  death, 
which  is  once  to  be  suffered  of  us  all  for  sins,  but  also 
everlasting  punishments  due  to  our  corruption  and  our 
sins."  The  Confession  of  Basle  says  that  by  the  fall 
all  mankind  became  "  subject  unto  damnation."  The 
Confession  of  Bohemia  says  that  by  the  fall,  man  "  cast 
headlong  both  himself  and  all  his  posterity  into  sin, 
death,  and  all  kinds  of  miseries  in  this  life,  and  into 
punishments  eternal  after  this  life."  The  Confession 
of  France  says  :  "  We  believe  that  this  stain  is  indeed 
sin ;  because  it  maketh  all  and  every  man  guilty  of 
eternal  death  before  God."  The  Confession  of  Belgia 
says  that  original  sin  "  is  so  filthy  and  abominable  in 
the  sight  of  God  that  it  alone  is  sufficient  to  the  con- 
demnation of  all  mankind."  The  Augsburg  Confes- 
sion begins  its  account  of  original  sin  by  saying  that 
7  * 


78  MEN    ARE    GUILTY. 

it  is  "  that  guilt,  whereby  all  that  come  into  the  world, 
are,  through  Adam's  fall,  subject  to  God's  wrath  and 
eternal  death."  The  Churches  of  England  and  Ire- 
land in  their  Articles  say  that  "  in  every  person  born 
into  the  world  original,  sin  deserveth  God's  wrath  and 
damnation."  The  Synod  of  Dort  condemns  the  er- 
rors of  those,  who  teach  "  that  it  cannot  well  be 
affirmed' that  original  sin  is  sufficient  for  the  condemn- 
ing of  all  mankind,  or  for  the  deserving  of  temporal 
and  eternal  punishment."  They  declare  that  such  go 
against  the  Apostle  in  Rom.  v.  12 — 19,  and  vi.  23. 
The  Westminster  Confession,  now  so  extensively 
adopted  in  Great  Britain  and  America  by  orthodox 
churches,  says  :  "  Every  sin,  both  original  and  actual, 
being  a  transgression  of  the  righteous  law  of  God,  and 
contrary  thereunto,  doth,  in  its  own  nature,  bring  guilt 
upon  the  sinner ;  whereby  he  is  bound  over  to  the 
wrath  of  God,  and  curse  of  the  law,  and  so  made  sub- 
ject to  death  with  all  miseries,  spiritual,  temporal  and 
eternal." 

Should  any  be  inclined  to  think  these  remarks  need- 
lessly protracted,  let  them  remember,  1.  that  the  doc- 
trine of  the  guilt  of  Adam's  first  sin  being  imputed  to 
his  posterity  has  been  opposed,  vilified  and  maligned 
in  an  extraordinary  way  ;  and,  2.  that  the  entire  work 
of  Christ  as  a  Saviour  will  soon  be  deemed  unneces- 
sary by  those,  who  are  bold  enough  to  deny  original 
sin.  The  ablest  writers  the  Church  has  ever  had,  have 
taken  this  view  of  this  doctrine.  Ridgley  says  :  "  The 
Apostle  calls  Adam  the  figure  of  him  that  was  to 
come.  Rom.  v.  14.  Now,  in  what  was  Adam  a  type 
of  Christ  ?  Not  as  he  was  a  man,  consisting  of  soul 
and  body ;  for,  in  that  respect,  all  that  lived  before 


IMPUTATION    OF   ADAM'S   SIN.  79 

Christ  might  as  justly  be  called  types  of  him.  "When- 
ever we  read  of  any  person  or  thing  being  a  type  in 
Scripture,  there  are  some  peculiar  circumstances,  by 
which  they  may  be  distinguished  from  all  other  per- 
sons or  things,  that  are  not  types.  Now  Adam  was 
distinguished  from  all  other  persons,  more  especially 
as  he  was  the  federal  head  of  all  his  posterity ;  and 
that  he  was  so,  appears  from  what  the  Apostle  not 
only  occasionally  mentions,  but  largely  insists  on,  and 
shows  in  what  respect  this  was  true ;  and  he  particu- 
larly observes,  that  as  one  conveyed  death,  the  other 
was  the  head,  or  Prince  of  Life.  These  respective 
things,  indeed,  were  directly  opposite,  therefore  the 
analogy,  or  resemblance  consisted  only  in  the  manner 
of  conveying  them :  so  that  as  death  did  not  become 
due  to  us,  in  the  first  instance  of  our  liableness  to  it, 
for  our  own  actual  sin,  but  the  sin  of  Adam ;  that 
right  we  have  to  eternal  life,  by  justification,  is  not 
the  result  of  our  own  obedience,  but  Christ's.  This  is 
plainly  the  Apostle's  method  of  reasoning." 

The  elder  President  Edwards  says :  "  When  the 
doctrine  of  original  sin  is  spoken  of,  it  is  vulgarly  un- 
derstood in  that  latitude,  which  includes  not  only  the 
depravity  of  nature,  but  the  imputation  of  Adam's 
first  sin ;  or,  in  other  words,  the  liableness  and  ex- 
posedness  of  Adam's  posterity,  in  the  divine  judg- 
ment, to  partake  of  the  punishment  of  that  sin.  So 
far  as  I  know,  most  of  those  who  have  held  one  of 
these,  have  maintained  the  other ;  and  most  of  those, 
who  have  opposed  one,  have  opposed  the  other."  He 
shows  his  estimate  of  the  importance  of  this  doctrine 
when  he  devotes  an  entire  chapter  to  its  separate  con- 
sideration.    He  also  says  that  "  the  rejection  of  the 


80  MEN   ARE   GUILTY. 

doctrine  of  original  sin  renders  redemption  unneces- 
sary." 

Thomas  Boston  in  his  discourse  on  Rom.  v.  19 
says :  "  There  are  only  two  ways  how  men  might  be 
made  sinners  by  the  disobedience  of  Adam  ;  viz.  either 
by  imputation   or  imitation.     The  last  is  not  meant ; 

(1)  Because  some  of  those  many  who  are  made  sinners 
are  not  capable  of  imitation  or  actual  sin,  viz.  infants. 

(2)  Because  we  are  made  righteous,  not  by  the  imita- 
tion, but  imputation  of  Christ's  righteousness ;  but  as 
we  are  made  righteous  by  the  one,  so  we  are  made  sin- 
ners by  the  other." 

Owen  says  :  Adam's  "  actual  sin  is  imputed  unto  us, 
as  that  which  becomes  ours  by  that  imputation,  which 
before  it  was  not." 

Bishop  Beveridge  says  :  "  We  see  the  Apostle  say- 
ing, 'All  have  sinned,'  (Rom.  v.  12,)  before  all  were 
born,  which  could  not  be  unless  they  had  before  sinned 
in  him  from  whom  they  were  born.  And  so,  many 
render  the  words  '  in  whom  all  have  sinned ;'  and 
therefore  the  same  Apostle  tells  us,  'In  Adam  all 
died.'  1  Cor.  xv.  22.  Now  how  could  all  die  in  him, 
unless  all  sinned  in  him  ?  For  death  is  the  wages  of 
sin  only,  as  well  as  the  only  wages  of  sin." 

Richard  Baxter  says  :  "  Infants  are  not  made  right- 
eous by  Christ,  if  they  were  not  sinners ;  and  sinners 
they  cannot  be  by  any  but  original  sin." 

The  celebrated  James  Arminius  of  the  University 
of  Leyden,  though  erroneous  in  many  things,  yet 
closes  a  paragraph  on  original  sin  with  these  words : 
"  From  these  things,  the  imputation  of  the  sin  of  our 
first  parents  is  necessarily  inferred;  for  wherever 
there  is  the  punishment  of  sin  there  is  the  imputation 


IMPUTATION   OF   ADAM'S   SIN.  81 

of  the  same."  Again:  "Whatever  punishment  was 
inflicted  on  our  first  parents,  has  also  pervaded  all 
their  posterity,  and  still  oppresses  them ;  so  that  all 
are  by  nature  children  of  wrath,  (Eph.  ii.  31,)  ob- 
noxious to  condemnation,  and  to  death  temporal  and 
eternal,  (Rom.  v.  12,)  and  are,  lastly,  devoid  of  that 
[primeval]  righteousness  and  holiness ;  with  which 
evils  they  would  continue  oppressed  for  ever,  unless 
they  were  delivered  from  them  by  Jesus  Christ ;  to 
whom  be  glory  for  ever  and  ever.''  (Rom.  v.  18,  19.) 

Richard  Watson  says :  "  In  Romans  v.  Adam  and 
Christ  are  contrasted  in  their  public  or  federal  charac- 
ter ;  and  the  hurt  which  mankind  have  derived  from 
the  one,  and  the  healing  they  have  received  from  the 
other,  are  also  contrasted  in  various  particulars,  which 
are  equally  represented  as  the  effects  of  the  '  offence' 
of  Adam,  and  of  the  '  obedience'  of  Christ.  Adam, 
indeed,  in  verse  14,  is  called,  with  allusion  to  this 
public  representative  character,  the  figure,  tvrto^  type, 
or  model  of  *  Him  that  was  to  come.'  The  same  Apos- 
tle also  adopts  the  phrases  '  the  first  Adam,'  and  4  the 
second  Adam,'  which  mode  of  speaking  can  only  be 
explained  on  the  ground,  that  as  sin  and  death  de- 
scended from  one,  so  righteousness  and  life  flow  from 
the  other ;  and  that  what  Christ  is  to  all  his  spiritual 
seed,  that  Adam  is  to  all  his  natural  descendants.  On 
this,  the  parallel  is  founded,  '  For  as  in  Adam  all  die, 
so  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive ;'  (1  Cor.  xv.  22,) 
words,  which  on  any  other  hypothesis  can  have  no  na- 
tural signification." 

Even  Bellarmine  says  :  "  The  sin  of  Adam  is  so  im- 
puted to  all  his  posterity,  as  if  they  had  all  committed 
the  same  sin." 


82  MEN  ARE   GUILTY. 

It  ought  constantly  to  be  remembered  that  errorists 
have  an  almost  uniform  mode  of  attacking  the  truth. 
They  would  subvert  the  doctrine  of  universal  depra- 
vity, and  they  begin  by  attacking  native  depravity. 
They  would  set  aside  the  whole  doctrine  of  original 
sin,  and  they  commence  by  finding  fault  with  the  im- 
putation of  Adam's  first  sin.  There  is  also  a  constant 
sinking  down  into  lower  error.  Pelagius  first  propa- 
gated his  errors  by  putting  objections  into  the  mouths 
of  others,  and  by  suggesting  difficulties  to  the  true 
doctrine.  But  his  follower  Julian  unblushingly  said : 
"  The  triune  God  should  be  adored  as  most  just ;  and 
it  has  been  made  to  appear  most  irrefragably,  that  the 
sin  of  another  never  can  be  imputed  by  him  to  little 
children."  Again :  "  Hence  that  is  evident,  which  we 
defend  as  most  reasonable,  that  no  one  is  born  in  sin, 
and  that  God  never  judges  men  to  be  guilty  on  ac- 
count of  their  birth."  "  Children,  inasmuch  as  they 
are  children,  never  can  be  guilty,  until  they  have  done 
something  by  their  own  proper  will."  There  is  about 
as  close  an  agreement  between  the  enemies  of  truth  in 
different  ages  as  to  the  language  they  will  adopt  in  op- 
posing sound  doctrine,  as  there  is  among  its  friends  in 
the  manner  of  maintaining  it. 

But  as  if  this  condemnation  by  nature,  this  death  by 
the  sin  of  our  progenitor  imputed  to  us,  were  not  as 
fiery  and  terrible  as  men  would  have  it,  they  rush  into 
actual  sins,  and  bring  more  wrath  upon  themselves  by 
great  wickedness  and  unrighteousness,  by  many  acts 
of  impiety  and  malice.  They  devise  mischief  upon 
their  beds  ;  they  love  vain  thoughts ;  they  rebel  against 
God ;  break  every  precept  of  his  law,  and  vex  his  Holy 
Spirit.     In  thought,  word,  and   deed  they  are  trans- 


ACTUAL    SINS.  83 

gressors.  They  are  as  an  unclean  thing.  Their  con- 
sciences are  defiled.  Their  wills  are  perverse.  They 
have  all  done,  and  are  all  doing  that  which  was  for- 
bidden. They  have  all  failed  and  are  daily  failing  to 
do  what  was  commanded.  The  law,  which  they  break, 
is  holy,  just  and  good.  It  is  the  only  perfect  law  ever 
enacted.  No  sentence  could  be  more  just  than  this, 
"the  soul  that  sinneth  it  shall  die."  Punishment  is 
deserved  by  all  transgressors.  If  there  were  no  pro- 
hibitions to  sin,  men  could  not  seem  more  eager  after 
iniquity  than  at  present.  Not  only  so,  the  very  pro- 
hibition provokes  a  longing  for  disobedience.  "  Sin, 
taking  occasion  by  the  commandment,  wrought  in  me 
all  manner  of  concupiscence."  Rom.  vii.  8.  Thus  "the 
whole  world  lieth  in  wickedness."  Its  guilt  would  in- 
stantly sink  it  to  hell  but  for  the  patience  and  long- 
suffering  of  God.  If  the  precept  of  the  law  is  holy, 
just,  and  good,  so  is  the  penalty.  God  is  the  author 
of  both.  The  human  conscience  whenever  enlightened 
and  aroused,  pronounces  damnation  just.  Psa.  li.  4. 
The  boldest  sinners  in  the  world  will  be  speechless  in 
the  day  of  judgment.  Guilt  is  a  dreadful  chain.  It 
holds  all  its  prisoners  bound  in  affliction  and  iron.  No 
man  can  give  to  God  a  ransom  for  himself,  or  for  his 
brother;  for  "the  redemption  of  the  soul  is  precious," 
costly,  infinitely  costly.  In  the  awards  of  the  last 
day  every  conscience  will  acquiesce,  and  all  cavilling 
at  God's  sovereign  disposal  of  men  will  be  for  ever 
silenced.  The  sentence  of  exclusion  from  the  pre-' 
sence  of  the  Lord,  and  from  the  glory  of  his  power,  will 
be  most  righteous.  Nothing  could  be  more  holy,  more 
deserved.  All  heaven,  all  earth,  all  hell  will  see  and 
feel  how  just  it  is.     0  man  of  the  world,  can  thy  hands 


84  MEN  ARE   GUILTY. 

be  strong,  or  thy  heart  endure,  when  God  shall  call 
thee  to  account  ?  "  What  wilt  thou  say  when  he  shall 
punish  thee  V*  Well  did  Augustine  say,  "  Woe  to  the 
life  of  man,  be  it  never  so  commendable,  if  thou  exa- 
mine it,  setting  mercy  aside." 


CHAPTER    XI. 

SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS   IS   WORTHLESS.  —  MAN    NEEDS  A 
SAVIOUR. 

Our  own  merits  are  of  no  avail  for  salvation.  Man 
never  deserves  the  favourable  regard  of  God.  The 
more  self-righteous  any  one  is,  the  worse  it  is  for  him. 
He,  who  is  found  with  a  little  counterfeit  money  on 
him,  may  be  suspected,  but  he,  who  knowingly  carries 
much  of  it,  may  be  convicted.  Self-righteousness  is 
spurious  coin.  "Whoever  relies  on  his  own  goodness 
for  salvation  will  surely  perish.  He  puts  darkness  for 
light  and  bitter  for  sweet.  He  turns  judgment  into 
wormwood  and  righteousness  into  hemlock.  Self- 
righteousness  is  a  condemnation  of  God's  law  and  an 
impeachment  of  his  justice.  There  are  but  two  ways 
in  which  man  ever  had  solid  peace.  The  first  is  by 
having  a  heart  and  life  free  from  sin.  When  Adam 
was  holy,  his  peace  was  unbroken.  But  we  have  all 
sinned,  and  this  door  is  for  ever  closed  against  our  race. 
Of  all  that  have  been  born  of  woman,  but  one  entered 
heaven  by  his  own  merits.  That  one  was  Jesus,  the 
Son  of  God.  The  other  way  for  us  to  have  peace 
is  to  flee  to  Christ  who  is  our  peace,  and  hath  made 
peace  for  all  that  believe  on  him.  Those  who  receive 
him  shall  never  come  into  condemnation.  Their  peace 
shall  be  like  a  river,  winch  widens  and  deepens  the 
8  (85) 


86  SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS   IS   WORTHLESS. 

farther  it  flows.  The  way,  in  which  some  secure  a 
false  peace  and  destroy  themselves,  is  to  shut  their 
eyes  on  their  offences,  sear  their  own  consciences,  and 
persuade  themselves  that  they  are  not  verily  and  fear- 
fully guilty,  and  have  not  grievously  sinned  against  God. 
They  spend  their  days  in  framing  excuses,  perhaps 
vindications  of  a  life  of  rebellion  and  sin ;  or  they 
boldly  deny  their  guilt  in  every  particular,  as  did  the 
Jews  in  the  days  of  Malachi,  and  of  our  Saviour.  Self- 
righteousness  seems  to  be  born  with  sin,  and  to  grow  with 
ks  growth.  A  disposition  to  deny  criminality  is  uni- 
versal among  men.  Nothing  but  divine  grace  can 
effectually  cure  the  habit  of  self-justification.  One  hon- 
est confession  is  a  better  sign  of  amendment,  and  pro- 
mises more  good  than  all  excuses  and  denials.  Indeed 
no  saving  mercy  can  come  to  him  who  will  not  confess 
his  sins.  The  reason  is  that  to  him,  who  thinks  he  has 
no  malady,  all  medicine  is  offensive.  "  The  whole  need 
not  a  physician."  He  who  thinks  he  knows  will  not 
inquire.  He,  who  says  he  sees,  will  not  ask  for  a  light. 
How  can  he  wish  to  be  better,  who  is  already  in  his 
own  esteem  good  enough  ?  How  can  he  who  believes 
he  has  done  no  wrong,  ask  for  pardon?  Forgiveness 
to  the  innocent  is  impossible.  To  absolve  the  guiltless 
is  an  absurdity.  The  very  offer  of  mercy  to  the  sinless 
is  an  indignity. 

Nothing  in  human  nature  seems  to  be  more  obstinate, 
or  more  difficult  to  eradicate  than  a  self-righteous  spirit. 
Without  the  grace  of  Christ  going  before,  no  man  ever 
sought  or  desired  a  new  heart,  or  a  gracious  pardon. 
Left  to  themselves,  men  will  live  in  sin,  die  in  sin,  and 
lie  down  in  eternal  sorrow,  rather  than  renounce  their 
own  goodness  and  abandon  their  self-righteous  hopes. 


MAN  NEEDS  A   SAVIOUR.  87 

It  tends  greatly  to  strengthen  these  delusions  when 
men  can  plead  natural  amiability  of  temper,  or  a  fair 
standing  with  the  world  for  truth,  justice  and  honour, 
or  a  decent  and  serious  attention  to  the  ordinances  of 
religion.  Christ  said  to  the  most  exact  observers  of  the 
Mosaic  ritual,  "the  publicans  and  harlots  go  into  the 
kingdom  of  God  before  you."  "  There  are  many  who 
think  they  are  safe,  so  long  as  they  can  find  others 
worse  than  themselves.  As  if  the  fox  should  thank 
God  that  he  is  not  a  bear ;  or  the  wolf  that  he  is  not 
a  lion;  or  the  swine  that  he  is  not  a  wolf;  whereas  all 
this  is  nothing  to  the  purpose,  because  God  hath  called 
his  children  to  be  sheep,  neither  shall  any  species  of 
unclean  beasts  be  tolerated  in  the  Christian  society, 
unless  they  become  sensible  of  their  disposition,  and 
put  it  off  as  fast  as  they  can  by  repentance  and  con- 
version.'' All  observation  goes  to  show  that  there  is 
not  among  men  a  more  hopeless  class  of  offenders  than 
those  who  trust  in  themselves  that  they  are  righteous 
and  despise  others.  "  All  our  righteousnesses  are  as 
filthy  rags."  "If  I  wash  myself  in  snow-water,  and 
make  my  hands  never  so  clean,  yet  shalt  thou  plunge 
me  in  the  ditch  and  mine  own  clothes  shall  abhor  me. 
For  he  is  not  a  man  as  I  am,  that  I  should  answer  him, 
and  we  should  come  together  in  judgment."  Job  ix. 
30 — 32.  "  If  thou,  Lord,  shouldst  mark  iniquities,  0 
Lord,  who  shall  stand?"  Psa.  cxxx.  3.  See  also  Job 
iv.  17 — 20,  and  xv.  15,  16,  and  ix.  2,  3.  How  wisely 
did  David  plead,  "  Enter  not  into  judgment  with  thy 
servant,  for  in  thy  sight  shall  no  man  living  be  justi- 
fied." Psa.  cxliii.  2.  It  is  the  part  of  wisdom  for  every 
mortal  to  say,  "  If  I  justify  myself,  mine  own  mouth 
shall  condemn  me :  if  I  say,  I  am  perfect,  it  shall  also 


88  SELF-KIGHTEOUSNESS   IS   WORTHLESS. 

prove  me  perverse."  Job  ix.  20.  Let  us  confess,  "  all 
we  like  sheep  have  gone  astray ;  we  have  turned  every 
one  to  his  own  way,"  Peter  (1  Pet.  v.  5,)  has  fore- 
warned us  that  "  God  resisteth  the  proud,  and  giveth 
grace  to  the  humble."  Here  is  the  secret  of  the  differ- 
ence of  the  treatment  received  by  the  pharisee  and 
the  publican,  the  one  with  unhumbled  heart  pleading 
his  own  goodness,  the  other  crying  "  God  be  merciful 
to  me  a  sinner."  Indeed  it  is  the  unvarying  law  of 
God's  government  that ."  whosoever  shall  exalt  himself 
shall  be  abased,  and  he  that  humbleth  himself  shall 
be  exalted."  "  Christ  came  not  to  call  the  right- 
eous," he  came  to  call  "sinners  to  repentance."  All 
this  is  well  summed  up  in  the  Heidelberg  Catechism. 
"  62.  But  why  cannot  our  good  works  be  the  whole  or 
part  of  our  righteousness  before  God  ? 

Because  that  the  righteousness  which  can  be  ap- 
proved of  before  the  tribunal  of  God,  must  be  abso- 
lutely perfect,  and  in  all  respects  conformable  to  the 
divine  law ;  and  also,  that  our  best  works  in  this  life, 
are  all  imperfect  and  denied  with  sin. 

63.  What !  do  our  good  works  merit  nothing,  which 
yet  God  will  reward  in  this  and  a  future  life  ? 

This  reward  is  not  of  merit,  but  of  grace. 

64.  But  doth  not  this  doctrine  make  men  careless 
and  profane  ? 

By  no  means ;  for  it  is  impossible  that  those  who 
are  implanted  into  Christ  by  a  true  faith,  should  not 
bring  forth  the  fruits  of  thankfulness." 

The  effect  of  all  God's  saving  dealings  with  men's  souls, 
is  ultimately  to  bring  them  to  remember  their  ways,  and 
all  their  doings  wherein  they  have  been  denied ;  and 
to  loathe  themselves  in  their  own  sight  for  all  their 


MAN   NEEDS   A   SAVIOUR.  89 

evils  that  they  have  committed,  and  to  know  that  God 
is  the  Lord,  when  he  has  wrought  with  them  for  his 
name's  sake,  and  not  according  to  their  wicked  ways, 
nor  according  to  their  corrupt  doings.  Ezek.  xx. 
43,  44. 

From  all  that  has  been  said  it  follows  that  man  needs 
the  grace  of  Christ.  "Where  evil  exists  a  remedy  is 
called  for.  He,  who  is  sick,  needs  a  physician.  It 
would  be  better  for  the  blind,  if  their  eyes  were  opened ; 
for  the  deaf,  if  their  ears  were  unstopped ;  for  the 
halt,  if  their  lameness  were  taken  away.  The  unclean 
need  washing  ;  the  condemned,  pardon.  Those  who  are 
not  holy  should  be  renewed.  To  the  diseased  even 
painful  remedies  are  a  kindness.  The  perishing  need 
mercy,  the  guilty  need  grace.  The  lost  should  be 
sought  and  found.  The  starving  require  bread ;  the 
thirsty,  water  ;  the  wounded,  oil  and  wine ;  the  cold 
and  naked,  raiment  and  shelter.  The  truth  is,  we  are 
dead  in  trespasses  and  sins,  yea,  twice  dead.  How 
strong  this  language,  and  yet  how  just !  If  any  man 
fight  against  it,  his  quarrel  is  with  God,  not  with  those, 
who  by  divine  command  preach  the  doctrine.  The 
Bible  is  a  sober  book.  It  never  mocks  us.  It  never 
trifles  with  any  man's  feelings.  It  gives  no  idle 
alarms.  It  scatters  all  needless  fears,  and  cuts  up 
superstition  by  the  roots ;  yet  it  says,  we  are  dead, 
twice  dead,  dead  by  nature ;  dead  by  actual  transgres- 
sion; dead  by  the  law;  dead  by  a  wilful,  ungrateful, 
unbelieving  rejection  of  Christ.  What  a  death  !  Men 
are  dead,  like  a  very  dry  tree,  which  is  ready  to  be 
plucked  up  by  the  roots.  If  a  spark  touches  it,  it  is 
soon  all  in  a  blaze.  There  is  in  unconverted  men,  no 
spiritual  life,  no  warmth  of  affection,  towards  God  and 
8* 


90  SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS    IS   WORTHLESS. 

holiness.  They  have  no  good  hope  through  grace. 
The  life  and  love  of  God  are  not  in  them.  Separated 
from  God,  they  cannot  live.  For  as  the  branch  severed 
from  the  vine,  or  the  arm  from  the  trunk,  or  the  body 
from  the  soul  is  dead,  being  alone,  so  the  spirit  of  man 
without  God  is  dead  also.  Surely  man  in  this  state 
needs  a  Saviour.  Never  were  necessities  so  extreme.  If 
God  intended  to  do  something,  "  which  angels  would 
desire  to  look  into,"  what  would  more  surely  gain  his 
end,  than  to  provide  a  Saviour  for  lost  men  ?  It  is  no 
insult  to  offer  grace  to  such  rebels  as  we  are.  A  little 
humility,  faith  and  love,  would  make  us  all  adopt  as  our 
creed  the  words  of  Peter  :  "  We  believe  that  through 
the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  we  shall  be  saved 
even  as  they."  At  least  we  should  say,  that  we  never  can 
be  saved  otherwise,  and  should  greatly  desire  to  be  saved 
in  this  blessed  way.  If  not  thus  saved  we  are  for  ever 
undone.  Our  true  wisdom  is  to  cry,  "  We  do  not  pre- 
sent our  supplications  before  thee  for  our  righteousness, 
but  for  thy  great  mercies."  Dan.  ix.  18.  This  brings 
us  naturally  to  the  consideration  of  the  amazing  grace, 
actually  shown  to  men  in  their  salvation  by  Jesus 
Christ. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


THE  TRUE  NOTION  OF  GRACE. 

The  Synod  of  Dort  says  that  "  God  oweth  no  man 
grace.  For  how  can  God  become  debtor  to  him,  who 
hath  nothing  to  give  first,  that  it  might  be  recompensed 
to  him  again  ?  Nay,  what  can  God  owe  him,  who 
hath  nought  of  his  own  but  sin  and  untruth  ?  Whoso- 
ever therefore  is  made  partaker  of  this  kind  of  grace, 
ever  oweth  and  ever  payeth  thanks  to  God  only."  The 
term,  grace,  often  occurs  in  Scripture.  Sometimes  it 
means  beauty,  as  in  Prov.  i.  9  and  iv.  9.  But  this  is 
never  the  meaning  of  the  word  in  the  New  Testament. 
There  the  generic  idea  of  the  term  is  favour,  unmerited 
kindness,  undeserved  love,  unbought  pity,  gift,  mere 
gratuity.  This  grace  is  variously  manifested.  The 
gospel  is  itself  called  grace  because  it  is  the  fruit  and 
evidence  of  God's  unmerited  goodness.  The  privilege 
of  preaching  the  gospel  is  for  the  same  reason  called 
grace  And  indeed  it  is  a  great  favour  to  be  allowed  to 
publish  the  glad  tidings  of  great  joy.  No  man  deserves 
such  honour.  Pardon  of  sin  and  acceptance  with  God 
are  both  often  said  to  be  by  grace,  by  mercy  undeserved. 
The  work  of  purifying  the  hearts  of  his  people  and 
fitting  them  for  glory  is  effected  by  the  grace  of  God. 
God  does  it  purely  out  of  pity  and  love,  and  not  at  all 
out  of  regard  to  any  merit  of  ours.  Renewal  and 
sanctification  are  rich  fruits  of  mercy.     Without  God's 

(91) 


92  TRUE    NOTION    OF    GRACE. 

grace  salvation  is  absolutely  impossible.  A  salvation, 
"which  failed  to  root  out  sin,  and  set  up  the  reign  of 
grace,  would  no  doubt  be  pleasing  to  the  carnal  mind, 
and  would  delight  a  hypocrite ;  but  could  never  satisfy 
the  longings  of  a  real  child  of  God.  Sin  in  its  reign- 
ing power,  no  less  than  in  its  fearful  guilt,  must  be 
destroyed,  or  it  will  destroy  Us.  He,  who  fails  to  gain 
the  victory  over  his  lusts,  fails  of  heaven.  If  they  be 
not  put  down,  we  labour  in  vain  and  spend  our  strength 
for  nought. 

Hardly  anything  is  more  striking  than  the  obstinate 
attachment  of  men  to  their  own  works,  and  their  con- 
sequent aversion  to  the  grace  of  God.  The  great  mass 
of  unrenewed  men,  even  in  Christian  assemblies,  have 
really  no  idea  of  ever  being  saved  otherwise  than  by 
becoming  good,  and  that  in  their  own  strength.  They 
generally  suspect  that  they  are  not  now  what  they 
ought  to  be,  but  they  intend  to  do  better  hereafter. 
They  seem  very  ignorant  of  the  extent,  spirituality 
and  holiness  of  the  law  ;  and  thus  while  conscience 
does  not  flame  out  against  them,  they  rest  in  the  delu- 
sion that  they  are  not  very  bad,  and  may  easily  improve. 
The  very  last  thing  which  a  sinner  under  conviction 
does,  is  to  give  up  his  self-confidence.  He  cleaves  to 
it  as  if  salvation  depended  upon  his  good  opinion  of 
himself.  Indeed  till  God's  Spirit  enlightens  his  mind, 
he  will  not  see  that  salvation  can  never  be  compassed 
by  his  own  power  or  merit.  So  that  the  very  process, 
by  which  a  sinner  is  led  to  the  Saviour,  is  usually  one 
of  extreme  sadness.  He  has  less  and  less,  in  his  own 
esteem,  worthy  of  honourable  mention  before  God, 
until  at  last  he  finds  out  that  he  is  nothing  but  a  guilty, 
vile,  lost,  helpless,  perishing  sinner.     To  a  Christian, 


TRUE   NOTION    OF   GRACE.  93 

who  knows  what  is  going  on  in  the  sinner's  mind,  these 
new  views  awaken  lively  hopes  that  a  work  of  grace  is 
begun  in  his  heart.  But  often  the  sinner  himself  is 
almost  in  despair.  He  supposes  that  his  convictions 
are  forerunners  of  condemnation  and  rejection,  not  of 
conversion.  And  when  he  is  led  to  Christ,  and  hope 
springs  up  in  his  mind,  none  is  more  surprised  at  the 
change  in  his  views  than  himself.  He  did  not  expect 
deliverance  in  that  way.  He  had  not  yet  become  good 
in  his  own  eyes.  He  now  learns  that  it  is  God's  plan  to 
save  sinners  who  simply  believe.  To  him  the  Gospel  is 
a  revelation  of  mercy.  He  is  charmed  with  the  method 
of  grace.  He  gives  all  honour  to  the  Redeemer,  and 
is  willing  to  be  counted  the  chief  of  sinners.  He  no 
longer  goes  about  to  establish  his  own  righteousness, 
which  is  of  the  law.  His  own  merits  he  counts  as 
nothing.  He  simply  wishes  to  be  found  in  Christ. 
His  song  is  of  free  unmerited  grace.  He  is  no  longer 
wedded  to  the  law,  as  a  means  of  justification,  but  he 
is  married  to  Christ,  who  is  now  all  his  salvation.  He 
works,  indeed,  but  it  is  from  love  to  the  Saviour.  He 
says,  "What  I  am,  I  am  by  the  grace  of  God."  He 
casts  his  crown  at  the  Saviour's  feet.  He  expects  all 
from  the  grace  of  Christ.  A  clergyman  once  repre- 
sented the  conduct  of  awakened  sinners  towards  God's 
offers  of  gratuitous  salvation  thus  :  A  benevolent  and 
rich  man  had  a  very  poor  neighbour,  to  whom  he  sent 
this  message ;  "  I  wish  to  make  you  the  gift  of  a  farm." 
The  poor  man  was  pleased  with  the  idea  of  having  a 
farm,  but  was  too  proud  at  once  to  receive  it  as  a  gift. 
So  he  thought  of  the  matter  much  and  anxiously.  His 
desire  to  have  a  home  of  his  own  was  daily  growing 
stronger,  but  his  pride  was  great.     At  length  he  de- 


94  TRUE   NOTION   OF   GRACE. 

termined  to  visit  him  who  had  made  the  offer.  But  a 
strange  delusion  about  this  time  seized  him,  for  he 
imagined  that  he  had  a  bag  of  gold.  So  he  came  with 
his  bag,  and  said  to  the  rich  man,  "  I  have  received 
your  message,  and  have  come  to  see  you.  I  wish  to 
own  the  farm,  but  I  wish  to  pay  for  it.  I  will  give 
you  a  bag  of  gold  for  it."  "  Let  us  see  your  gold," 
said  the  owner  of  the  farm.  The  poor  man  opened  his 
bag  and  looked,  and  his  countenance  was  changed,  and 
he  said,  "  Sir,  I  thought  it  was  gold,  but  I  am  sorry  to 
say  it  is  but  silver ;  I  will  give  you  my  bag  of  silver 
for  your  farm."  "Look  again  ;  I  do  not  -think  it  is 
even  silver,"  was  the  solemn  but  kind  reply.  The  poor 
man  looked,  and  as  he  beheld,  his  eyes  were  further 
opened,  and  he  said,  "  How  I  have  been  deceived.  It 
is  not  silver  but  only  copper.  Will  you  sell  me  your 
farm  for  my  bag  of  copper?  You  may  have  it  all." 
"  Look  again,"  was  the  only  reply.  The  poor  man 
looked,  tears  stood  in  his  eyes,  his  delusion  seemed  to 
be  gone,  and  he  said,  "  Alas,  I  am  undone.  It  is  not 
even  copper.  It  is  but  ashes.  How  poor  I  am  !  I  wish 
to  own  that  farm,  but  I  have  nothing  to  pay.  Will 
jougive  me  the  farm?"  The  rich  man  replied,  "  Yes, 
that  was  my  first  and  only  offer.  Will  you  accept  it 
on  such  terms  ?"  With  humility  but  with  eagerness 
the  poor  man  said,  "  Yes,  and  a  thousand  blessings  on 
you  for  your  kindness."  The  fable  is  easily  applied. 
Mather  has  well  expressed  the  difference  between  grace 
and  merit  in  few  words  ;  "  God  was  a  God  to  Adam 
before  he  fell,  but  to  be  a  God  to  sinners,  this  is  grace. 
He  was  a  God  to  Adam  in  innocency  by  virtue  of  the 
covenant  of  works ;  but  he  is  not  a  God  to  any  sinner 
but  in  the  way  of  free  grace.     Now  that  was  the  cove- 


TRUE   NOTION   OF   GRACE.  95 

nant,  '  I  will  be  a  God  to  thee  and  thy  seed/  Gen. 
xvii.  7.  Abraham  was  a  sinner  and  a  child  of  wrath 
by  nature  as  well  as  others;  yet  God  was  his  God 
truly.  For  God  to  be  a  God  to  them  that  never  sin- 
ned there  may  be  merit ;  but  for  God  to  be  a  God  to 
those  that  have  sinned  this  is  grace  indeed.  They, 
that  do  not  think  this  is  grace,  need  not  argument,  but 
pity  and  prayer." 

The  pious  John  Newton  in  few  words  states  with 
great  clearness  what  grace  is  :  "  To  bestow  gifts  upon 
the  miserable  is  bounty;  but  to  bestow  them  upon 
rebels  is  grace.  The  greatness  of  the  gifts  contrasted 
with  the  characters  of  those  who  receive  them,  displays 
the  exceeding  riches  of  the  Redeemer's  grace.  He 
came  to  save  not  the  unhappy  only,  but  the  ungodly. 
He  gives  pardon,  peace,  and  eternal  life  to  his  ene- 
mies ;  whose  minds  are  so  entirely  alienated  from  him 
that,  until  he  makes  them  willing,  in  the  day  of  his 
power,  their  minds  are  determined  against  accepting 
any  favour  from  him.' 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

THE  PROPERTIES    OF   GRACE. — IT   IS   FREE,  SUFFICIENT, 
UNSELFISH,  RICH  IN  BLESSINGS. 

In  many  things  the  grace  of  God  differs  from  all 
other  manifestations  of  favour.  We  should  not  be  sur- 
prised at  this  when  we  reflect  that  as  the  heavens  are 
higher  than  the  earth,  so  are  his  ways  higher  than  our 
ways,  and  his  thoughts  than  our  thoughts.  There  is 
none  like  Jehovah  in  love,  or  in  majesty,  in  glory  or 
in  condescension.  Beyond  everything  else  called  grace 
it  is  free.  It  is  beyond  the  power  of  man  to  earn  it, 
to  deserve  it,  to  purchase  it.  No  price  is  to  be  paid 
for  it.  To  offer  anything  as  an  equivalent  for  it  is  to 
insult  God.  "  Without  money  and  without  price"  is 
the  sole  method  of  its  bestowment.  This  grace  is  ab- 
solutely, everlastingly,  immutably  free.  If  you  ever 
secure  it,  it  will  not  be  by  paying  for  it  thousands  of 
rivers  of  oil,  the  cattle  on  a  thousand  hills,  the  wealth 
of  the  world. 

This  grace  is,  moreover,  all-sufficient.  It  alone  does 
all.  He,  who  has  it  is  rich  beyond  the  power  of  want, 
is  strong  beyond  the  possibility  of  being  finally  van- 
quished, is  justified  so  that  he  can  never  come  into  con- 
demnation. It  meets  every  demand  of  justice,  every 
temptation,  every  emergency.  "  My  grace  is  sufficient 
for  thee,"  are  words  as  sweet  as  ever  reached  the  ears 
of  mortals. 

(96) 


THE   PROPERTIES   OF   GRACE.  97 

Another  property  of  divine  grace  is  that  it  is  disin- 
terested and  unselfish.  It  is  pure  grace.  The  happi- 
ness of  the  King  of  kings  is  not  augmented  by  having 
kings  and  priests  to  bow  before  him.  God  is,  and 
was,  and  shall  be  blessed  for  evermore.  God's  al- 
mightiness  excludes  all  want  by  excluding  all  weak- 
ness. If  God  could  fail  in  anything,  he  might  cease 
to  be  blessed  and  so  cease  to  be  God.  When  there 
was  as  yet  no  created  spirit,  and  the  Spirit  increate 
and  eternal  existed  in  solitary  grandeur  in  the  uni- 
verse, that  Infinite  and  Eternal  Mind  was  as  happy  as 
it  is  now,  or  ever  shall  be.  To  the  divine  blessedness 
there  is  no  limit,  there  comes  no  change.  Like  his 
wisdom,  power,  holiness  and  truth,  his  happiness  can- 
not vary.  Neither  creation  nor  redemption  was  un- 
dertaken to  heighten  the  bliss  of  the  Godhead.  The 
Bible  teaches  that  if  men  were  even  spotlessly  holy, 
they  would  still  be  unprofitable  servants.  "  If  thou 
sinnest,  what  doest  thou  against  him  ?  or  if  thy  trans- 
gressions be  multiplied,  what  doest  thou  against  him  ? 
If  thou  be  righteous,  what  givest  thou  him  ?  or  what 
receiveth  he  of  thine  hand  ?  Thy  wickedness  may  hurt 
a  man  as  thou  art ;  and  thy  righteousness  may  profit 
the  son  of  man.  *  *  Can  a  man  be  profitable  unto  God 
as  he  that  is  wise  may  be  profitable  unto  himself?" 
Job  xxxv.  6 — 8  and  xxii.  2.  God  does  indeed  order 
all  things  for  his  own  honour  and  glory ;  but  that  is 
not  for  the  increase  of  his  infinite  blessedness.  Pure 
grace  and  unbought  love  have  done  all  for  sinners. 
There  is  no  mixture  of  God's  grace  and  man's  good- 
ness in  salvation.  God  owed  nothing,  could  owe  no- 
thing to  apostate  man.  It  is  a  shameful  and  wicked 
derogation  from  the  grace  of  the  Gospel  to  assert  that 
9 


98  THE   PROPERTIES   OF   GRACE. 

God  intended  thereby  to  make  amends  to  our  race  for 
the  defects  of  the  covenant  of  works.  That  covenant 
was  wise,  holy,  just  and  good.  Under  it  the  angels 
enjoy  all  their  bliss.  As  long  as  man  kept  it,  he  was 
unspeakably  happy.  And  when  he  fell  under  the 
curse  of  that  covenant,  he  did  it  not  by  any  inevitable 
necessity  of  nature,  but  by  his  own  voluntary  choice 
of  that  which  had  been  forbidden.  Nowhere  in  the 
Bible  is  it  hinted  that  God  promulged  the  covenant  of 
grace  as  something  due  to  us.  On  the  contrary  it 
traces  all  to  divine  bountifulness  and  mercifulness.  It 
speaks  on  this  wise :  "  God,  who  is  rich  in  mercy,  for 
his  great  love  wherewith  he  hath  loved  us,  even  when 
we  were  dead  in  sins,  hath  quickened  us  together  with 
Christ  (by  grace  are  ye  saved),  and  hath  raised  us  up 
together,  and  made  us  sit  together  in  heavenly  places 
in  Christ  Jesus  :  that  in  the  ages  to  come  he  might 
show  the  exceeding  riches  of  his  grace,  in  his  kindness 
toward  us  through  Christ  Jesus.  For  by  grace  are  ye 
saved  through  faith,  and  that  not  of  yourselves ;  it  is 
the  gift  of  God ;  not  of  works,  lest  any  man  should 
boast."  Eph.  ii.  4 — 9.  Many  other  portions  of  Scrip- 
ture teach  the  same  truth,  but  this  one  is  so  full  and 
explicit  that  nothing  but  perversity  and  blindness  can 
misconstrue  its  precious  doctrine.  The  peculiar  sweet- 
ness and  excellence  of  this  view  of  the  subject  is,  first, 
that  it  renders  illustrious  beyond  a  parallel  the  mercy 
of  God  in  Christ,  and  thus  lays  a  sure  foundation  for 
the  temple  of  praise  which  is  now  rising  to  the  sove- 
reign love  of  God.  Secondly,  this  view  brings  strong 
consolation  to  the  righteous,  because  if  God  had  gra- 
cious regards  towards  them  when  they  had  no  holiness 
nor  good  desires,  they  may  assuredly  hope  that  having 


THE   PROPERTIES   OF    GRACE.  99 

freely  given  them  new  hearts,  and  having  also  freely 
justified  them,  he  will  not  abandon  them  to  ruin,  nor 
hand  them  over  to  condemnation.  Nor  is  this  grace 
in  its  bestowments  limited  to  a  few  small  items.  It 
would  have  been  unmerited  kindness  for  eternal  mercy 
to  have  expressed  any  pity  for  man.  It  would  have 
been  more  than  man  deserved  for  God  to  have  given 
him  a  respite  of  a  thousand  years  from  the  fiery  doom, 
which  was  before  him.  It  is  mere  mercy  that  keeps  a 
sinner  out  of  hell  even  for  an  hour.  But  when  God 
undertook  to  be  gracious,  he  confined  himself  to  no 
little  work,  but  devised  a  plan  incomprehensibly  great 
and  glorious,  running  through  all  coming  time,  and 
the  eternity  beyond  that,  and  embracing  in  its  effects 
in  some  way  myriads  on  myriads  of  happy  creatures, 
who  study  it,  admire  it,  or  taste  its  abundant  provi- 
sions. So  that  on  this  side  of  heaven  there  is  no 
higher  exercise  of  virtue  than  simply  to  believe  and 
cordially  to  rely  upon  the  statements  of  God's  word 
respecting  this  greatest  of  all  devices.  The  first  result 
attained  by  the  works  of  grace  in  our  world  is  the 
securing  of  an  unparalleled  revenue  of  renown  to  the 
divine  government.  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest  is  an 
effect  peculiar  to  the  work  of  redemption.  To  men 
the  results  are  as  happy  as  to  God  they  are  honourable. 
The  fruits  of  God's  grace  are  so  many,  and  so  rich,  and 
so  necessary,  that  we  may  safely  say,  without  them  ex- 
istence is  not  desirable ;  but  with  them  life  is  a  great 
boon  and  blessing,  though  it  should  be  begun  by  ten 
thousand  years  of  such  affliction  as  the  saints  on  earth 
are  subject  to.  God's  plan  of  mercy  in  Christ  secures 
us  against  all  conceivable  ills,  except  such  as  shall 
themselves  be  made  the  means  of  ultimate  and  eternal 


100        THE  PROPERTIES  OF  GRACE. 

gain  to  us.  It  also  secures  the  possession  of  all  con- 
ceivable good  things  for  this  world  and  the  next,  and 
at  the  best  possible  time.  The  tenor  of  Scripture  on 
these  points  is  unmistakable  :  "All  things  are  yours  ; 
whether  Paul,  or  Apollos,  or  Cephas,  or  the  world,  or 
life,  or  death,  or  things  present,  or  things  to  come  ;  all 
are  yours  ;  and  ye  are  Christ's  ;  and  Christ  is  God's." 
1  Cor.  iii.  21 — 23.  Even  inspired  men  seem  at  a  loss 
for  words  to  convey  an  adequate  conception  of  any  of 
God's  saving  mercies.  In  his  gospel  John  says,  "  God 
so  loved  the  world ;"  and  in  his  first  epistle  he  says, 
"  Behold  !  what  manner  of  love."  Paul  breaks  out, 
"  Thanks  be  unto  God  for  his  unspeakable  gift."  With 
our  Lord  and  his  apostles  crowns  and  kingdoms  are 
favourite  emblems  of  the  riches  of  our  inheritance  in 
Christ.  Nor  does  God  ever  revoke  any  promise  made 
to  man  in  Christ  Jesus.  "  The  Lord  is  not  man  that 
he  should  repent."  He  never  begins  to  build  and  finds 
himself  unable  to  finish.  Nor  has  he  affixed  to  the 
gospel  offer  any  meritorious  condition  to  be  performed 
by  us.  Jesus  Christ  fulfilled  the  entire  conditions  of 
the  covenant  of  grace,  so  far  as  satisfying  the  law  and 
bringing  in  righteousness  are  concerned.  The  fourth 
property  of  this  grace,  then,  is  that  it  is  exceedingly 
fruitful  in  the  most  precious  and  most  permanent 
blessings. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 


god's  grace  is  also  of  great  antiquity,  sovereign 
and  distinguishing. 

Another  property  of  God's  grace  is  that  it  bears 
date  from  the  most  remote  antiquity,  even  the  past 
eternity  of  Jehovah.  It  is  not  therefore  of  recent 
origin,  as  all  human  and  even  angelic  friendships  are. 
The  plan  of  showing  grace  to  lost  sinners  existed  be- 
fore men  were  lost.  It  is  as  old  as  the  plan  of  the 
universe.  On  this  subject  the  language  of  inspiration 
is  decisive.  Paul  says  to  the  Ephesians,  "  Blessed  be 
the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who 
hath  blessed  us  with  all  spiritual  blessings  in  heavenly 
places  in  Christ :  according  as  he  hath  chosen  us  in 
him  before  the  foundation  of  the  world,  that  we  should 
be  holy  and  without  blame  before  him  in  love ;  having 
predestinated  us  unto  the  adoption  of  children  by  Jesus 
Christ  to  himself,  according  to  the  good  pleasure  of 
his  will,  to  the  praise  of  the  glory  of  his  grace,  who 
hath  made  us  accepted  in  the  Beloved."  David  says: 
"  The  mercy  of  the  Lord  is  from  everlasting  to  ever- 
lasting upon  them  that  fear  him."  Psa.  ciii.  17.  In 
Ephesians  iii.  11,  it  is  said,  we  are  saved  according  to 
an  "eternal  purpose."  The  mercies  of  time  are  the 
fruits  of  the  love  of  eternity.  In  Jeremiah  (xxxi.  3,) 
the  whole  work  of  salvation  is  ascribed  to  a  divine 
9*  (101) 


102  ANTIQUITY   OF   GOD'S   GRACE. 

regard  as  eternal  as  the  Godhead.  "I  have  loved 
thee  with  an  everlasting  love ;  therefore  with  loving 
kindness  have  I  drawn  thee."  How  precious  is  the 
truth  that  in  the  counsels  of  inconceivably  distant  ages 
man  was  not  forgotten ;  but  even  then  Jehovah  by  his 
prescience  looked  upon  him  in  his  guilt  and  vileness 
and  misery,  and  purposed  to  raise  from  the  deep  and 
dark  abyss  of  the  apostacy  a  people  who  should  be  his 
church,  a  people  who  should  ever  stand  "  to  the  praise 
of  the  glory  of  his  grace."  Some  indeed  say  that  this 
doctrine  encourages  sin.  But  the  Bible  teaches  a  very 
different  doctrine.  "  We  love  him  because  he  first 
loved  us."  "  Ye  have  not  chosen  me,  but  I  have 
chosen  you,  and  ordained  you,  that  ye  should  go  and 
bring  forth  fruit,  and  that  your  fruit  should  remain." 
Some  say  that  this  view  represents  God  as  loving  the 
vile  and  base  and  guilty.  The  answer  is  that  the 
Scriptures  clearly  teach  as  much.  "  God  so  loved  the 
world"  (guilty,  lost  and  ruined  as  it  was,)  "that  he 
gave  his  only  begotten  Son  that  whosoever  believeth 
on  him  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life." 
Indeed  they  say  that  this  view  is  not  only  just  and 
true,  but  honourable  to  God.  In  Romans  (v.  8,)  Paul 
says  that  "  God  commendeth  his  love  towards  us  in 
that  while  we  were  yet  sinners  Christ  died  for  us." 
Here  is  one  of  the  brightest  glories  of  the  covenant  of 
grace.  The  stability  of  the  whole  plan  of  redemption 
is  in  Scripture  said  to  depend  on  this  great  fact :  "  If 
while  we  were  enemies  we  were  reconciled  by  the  death 
of  his  Son  ;  much  more,  being  reconciled,  we  shall  be 
saved  by  his  life."  Kom.  v.  10.  God's  good  will  to 
man,  his  pity  for  the  lost,  his  grace  to  sinners  are  not 


ANTIQUITY   OF   GOD'S   GRACE.  103 

novelties  to  the  divine  mind.     They  have  run  parallel 
with  the  divine  existence  in  all  past  duration. 

In  contemplating  this  grace  the  devout  mind  findd 
itself  filled  with  awe  and  delight  at  discovering  that 
God's  grace  is  sovereign  and  distinguishing.  Thus  our 
Saviour  thought  and  felt  when  he  said,  "  I  thank  thee, 
0  Father,  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  because  thou  hast 
hid  these  things  from  the  wise  and  prudent  and  hast 
revealed  them  unto  babes.  Even  so,  Father,  for  so 
it  seemed  good  in  thy  sight."  Matt.  xi.  25,  26.  In 
this  solemn,  holy  and  thankful  manner  did  our  blessed 
Master  view  this  doctrine.  Let  us  imitate  him.  Let 
us  not  rush  into  doubtful  disputations.  Let  us  adore 
and  not  cavil.  Reason  is  presumptuous  when  it  re- 
vises the  decisions  of  God.  Our  blessed  Lord  often 
insisted  on  this  doctrine,  although  then  as  now  it  was 
very  offensive  to  the  carnal  mind.  In  Luke  iv.  25 — 29 
we  have  this  record:  "I  tell  you  of  a  truth,  many 
widows  were  in  Israel  in  the  days  of  Elias,  when  the 
heaven  was  shut  up  three  years  and  six  months,  when 
great  famine  was  throughout  all  the  land ;  but  unto 
none  of  them  was  Elias  sent,  save  unto  Sarepta,  a  city 
of  Sidon,  unto  a  woman  that  was  a  widow.  And  many 
lepers  were  in  Israel  in  the  time  of  Eliseus  the  prophet ; 
and  none  of  them  was  cleansed,  saving  Naaman  the 
Syrian.  And  all  they  in  the  synagogue,  when  they 
heard  these  things,  were  filled  with  wrath,  and  rose  up, 
and  thrust  him  out  of  the  city,  and  led  him  unto  the 
brow  of  the  hill  (whereon  their  city  was  built)  that 
they  might  cast  him  down  headlong."  What  shall  we 
then  do  ?  If  the  doctrine  so  offends  men,  shall  we 
give  it  up  ?  Are  we  to  make  peace  with  human  wick- 
edness by  observing  a  profound  silence  on  this  topic  ? 


104  god's  grace  is  sovereign 

Nay,  let  us  rather  imitate  Christ,  who  often  preached 
it.  The  parable  of  the  hired  labourers  found  in  Matt, 
xx.  1 — 16  is  spoken  for  the  express  purpose  of  showing 
that  God  will  do  as  he  pleases  with  his  own,  and  that 
for  so  doing,  he  may  not  be  complained  of.  Indeed 
by  Moses  God  said,  "  I  will  have  mercy  on  whom  I 
will  have  mercy,  and  I  will  have  compassion,  on  whom 
I  will  have  compassion  ;  so  then,  it  is  not  of  him  that 
willeth,  nor  of  him  that  runneth,  but  of  God  that  show- 
eth  mercy."  As  God  is  abundant  in  goodness  and 
truth,  we  see  ground  of  hope  and  confidence.  As  he 
is  sovereign  in  the  bestowment  of  his  favours,  let  us 
fear  before  him  and  adore.  He,  who  will  not  be 
pleased  with  the  divine  character  and  government 
until  he  can  see  God  waiting  on  the  nod  and  promptly 
obeying  the  mandates  of  the  human  will,  can  never  be 
reconciled  to  God.  "  The  Lord  is  a  great  king  and  a 
great  God  above  all  gods."  u  The  Lord  is  king  for 
ever  and  ever."  "  The  Lord  reigneth,  let  the  earth 
rejoice."  "  The  Lord  reigneth,  let  the  people  trem- 
ble." Jesus  Christ  not  only  taught  this  doctrine,  but 
as  the  Son  of  God  with  power  he  displayed  its  truth 
in  calling  to  himself  whom  he  would  for  his  disciples 
and  apostles,  in  saving  one  thief  and  not  the  other,  in 
bringing  Peter  to  repentance,  and  in  sending  Judas  to 
his  own  place,  in  calling  and  saving  Saul  of  Tarsus 
and  letting  Nero  persist  in  sin. 

The  sovereignty  of  grace  is  shown  principally  in 
three  ways ;  in  the  race  to  which  mercy  is  extended, 
viz :  the  human  and  not  the  angelic.  The  heavenly 
host,  who  fell,  were  passed  by  and  left  in  utter  and 
irretrievable  ruin  and  hopeless  sorrow.  Compare  Jude 
vi.  and  John  in.  16.     Why  this  was  so  we  cannot  tell. 


AND   DISTINGUISHING.  105 

The  loadstone  passes  by  gold  and  silver  and  attracts 
iron.  The  grace  of  God  passed  by  angels  and  came 
"  a  little  lower,"  even  to  man.  God  also  makes  known 
his  Gospel  and  sends  his  ambassadors  to  some  nations 
and  not  to  others.  Thus  at  first  Judea  was  distin- 
guished from  India.  Thus  now  America  and  Britain 
are  distinguished  from  Tartary  and  Japan.  And  in 
the  same  nation,  city  and  family  one  person  is  taken 
and  another  left,  one  is  pardoned,  converted,  sanctified 
and  received  up  to  glory,  while  another  no  worse  by 
nature,  dies  in  his  sins.  This  sovereignty  is  exercised 
solely  "  according  to  the  good  pleasure  of  his  will," 
and  not  at  all  on  account  of  any  goodness  belonging 
to  us,  or  foreseen  in  us.  Very  explicitly  and  conclu- 
sively does  Paul  prove  this  :  "  For  the  children  being 
not  yet  born,  neither  having  done  any  good  or  evil, 
that  the  purpose  of  God  according  to  election  might 
stand,  not  of  works,  but  of  him  that  calleth ;  it  was 
said  unto  her,  The  elder  shall  serve  the  younger.  As 
it  is  written,  Jacob  have  I  loved,  but  Esau  have  I 
hated.  What  shall  we  say  then  ?  Is  there  unright- 
eousness with  God  ?  God  forbid.  For  he  saith  to 
Moses,  I  will  have  mercy  on  whom  I  will  have  mercy, 
and  I  will  have  compassion  on  whom  I  will  have  com- 
passion. So  then  it  is  not  of  him  that  willeth,  nor  of 
him  that  runneth,  but  of  God  that  showeth  mercy. 
For  the  Scripture  saith  unto  Pharaoh,  Even  for  this 
same  purpose  have  I  raised  thee  up,  that  I  might  show 
my  power  in  thee,  and  that  my  name  might  be  de- 
clared throughout  all  the  earth.  Therefore  hath  he 
mercy  on  whom  he  will  have  mercy,  and  whom  he  will 
he  hardeneth.  Thou  wilt  say  then  unto  me,  Why 
doth  he  yet  find  fault  ?     For  who  hath  resisted  his 


106  god's  grace  is  sovereign 

■will?  Nay  but,  0  man,  who  art  thou  that  repllest, 
against  God  ?  Shall  the  thing  formed  say  to  him  that 
formed  it,  Why  hast  thou  made  me  thus  ?  Hath  not 
the  potter  power  over  the  clay,  of  the  same  lump  to 
make  one  vessel  unto  honour,  and  another  unto  disho- 
nour ?  What  if  God,  willing  to  show  his  wrath,  and 
to  make  his  power  known,  endured  with  much  long- 
suffering  the  vessels  of  wrath  fitted  to  destruction  : 
and  that  he  might  make  known  the  riches  of  his  glory 
on  the  vessels  of  mercy,  which  he  had  afore  prepared 
unto  glory" — Is  not  such  teaching  conclusive  ?  Who 
can  resist  it,  without  refusing  to  believe  God  ?  In  re- 
buking some,  who  persisted  in  asserting  that  God  dis- 
penses his  grace  among  men,  according  to  his  fore- 
knowledge of  the  good  use  which  they  will  severally 
make  of  it,  Augustine  says  :  "  Who  but  must  wonder 
that  this  most  ingenious  sense  should  escape  the 
Apostle  ?  For  after  proposing  what  was  suited  to  ex- 
cite astonishment  respecting  those  children  yet  unborn, 
he  started  to  himself  by  way  of  objection,  the  follow- 
ing question.  What  then,  is  there  unrighteousness 
with  God  ?  It  was  the  place  for  him  to  answer,  that 
God  foresaw  the  deserts  of  each  of  them,  yet  he  says 
nothing  of  this,  but  resorts  to  the  decrees  and  mercy 
of  God." 

Indeed  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  the  whole  weight  of 
Peter's  argument  in  convincing  his  hearers  of  their  sin 
was  in  connection  with  this  doctrine.  Speaking  of 
Christ,  Peter  said :  "  Him  being  delivered  by  the  de- 
terminate counsel  and  foreknowledge  of  God,  ye  have 
taken,  and  by  wicked  hands  have  crucified  and  slain." 
Acts  ii.  23.  Now,  if  he  had  failed  to  convince  them 
that  in  putting  Christ  to  death  they  had  fulfilled  the 


AND   DISTINGUISHING.  107 

eternal  purpose,  the  determinate  counsel  of  God,  he 
would  have  failed  to  convince  them  of  Christ's  Mes- 
siahship.  Or  if  he  had  failed  to  convince  them  that 
in  doing  this  of  envy  and  unbelief  and  enmity  they 
were  wicked,  then  his  preaching  would  have  been  in 
vain.  There  is  no  escaping  from  these  conclusions. 
To  fulfil  God's  decrees  with  a  wicked  heart  is  wicked, 
is  the  height  of  wickedness. 

That  the  doctrine  of  election  is  a  ground  of  encour- 
agement to  pious  preachers  of  the  Gospel  is  certain. 
Thousands  have  told  us  so.  It  was  so  to  Paul.  uThen 
spake  the  Lord  to  Paul  in  the  night  by  a  vision,  Be 
not  afraid,  but  speak,  and  hold  not  thy  peace :  for  I 
am  with  thee,  and  no  man  shall  set  on  thee  to  hurt 
thee :  for  i  have  much  people  in  this  city."  Acts 
xviii.  9,  10.  The  previous  context  shows  that  the 
Jews  at  Corinth  "opposed  themselves  and  blasphemed." 
In  fact  the  work  of  founding  a  church  there  was  but 
just  begun.  Yet  God  says,  "  I  have  much  people  in 
this  city."  No  man  will  say  that  God  merely  de- 
signed to  inform  Paul  that  Corinth  was  populous.  He 
knew  this  already.  The  only  fair  logical  meaning  is 
that  among  the  crowds  of  the  ungodly  in  that  city, 
were  many  of  God's  elect,  whom  he  purposed  by  Paul's 
ministry  soon  to  bring  to  a  saving  knowledge  of  Christ. 
The  doctrine  of  election,  rightly  understood,  holds  out 
the  only  ground  of  encouragement,  which  we  have,  for 
preaching  the  blessed  Gospel.  If  God  has  no  elect, 
we  preach  in  vain. 


CHAPTER    XV. 


GOD  S   PURPOSE    OF   GRACE. 


"All  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and 
is  profitable  for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction, 
for  instruction  in  righteousness."  If  this  be  so  we 
should  very  carefully  guard  our  hearts  that  we  indulge 
in  no  prejudices  against  any  portion  of  divine  truth. 
If  God  has  revealed  anything  to  us,  it  will  do  us  good 
to  receive  it  with  meekness  and  fear. 
I  It  is  not  possible  for  any  candid  person  to  deny  that 
the  Bible  uses  words,  which  seem  to  teach  that  God 
governs  the  world  by  a  fixed  plan,  and  that  events  oc- 
curring in  a  manner  to  us  accidental,  or  brought  about 
by  human  agency  were  foreseen  and  pre-ordained  by 
God.  Without  dealing  in  general  assertions,  let  us 
come  at  once  to  God's  word.  There  we  find  first  the 
word  decree  applied  to  God's  plan.  The  reason  why 
the  sea  is  contained  within  certain  limits  is  that  God 
has  determined  it  shall  be  so.  "  He  gave  the  sea  his 
decree,  that  the  waters  should  not  pass  his  command- 
ment." Prov.  viii.  29.  He  has  "placed  the  sand  for 
the  bound  of  the  sea  by  a  perpetual  decree."  Jer.  v.  22. 
Elsewhere  the  same  thing  is  taught  in  almost  the  same 
words.  It  cannot  therefore  be  denied  that  God  holds 
the  sea  in  bounds  by  his  unchangeable  decree.  The 
Scriptures  also  declare  that  it  is  the  fixed  decree  of 
God,  which  nothing  can  alter,  that  his  Son  should  be 

(108) 


god's  purpose  of  grace.  109 

the  Mediator.  "  Yet  have  I  set  my  King  upon  my 
holy  hill  of  Zion.  I  will  declare  the  decree :  The 
Lord  hath  said  unto  me,  Thou  art  my  Son,  this  day 
have  I  begotten  thee."  None  will  deny  that  the  me- 
diatorial throne  has  its  stability  in  the  everlasting  un- 
changeable purpose  of  God.  So  likewise  Daniel  de- 
clares that  Nebuchadnezzar  was  expelled  from  among 
men  "  by  the  decree  of  the  Most  High."  Dan.  iv.  24. 
The  Scriptures  also  use  the  word  appoint  as  ex- 
pressive of  the  same  idea.  Thus  Christ  says :  "  I 
appoint  unto  you  a  kingdom,  as  my  Father  hath  ap- 
pointed unto  me."  Luke  xxii.  29.  Men  must  have 
made  great  advances  in  boldness  before  they  can  deny 
that  all  Christ's  exaltation  and  glory  are  fixed  and 
given  him  by  the  unchangeable  appointment  of  God, 
and  yet  by  an  appointment  of  the  same  kind  all  his 
people  shall  have  a  kingdom.  So  also  the  day  of 
judgment  is  fixed.  Nothing  can  hasten  it ;  nothing 
can  defer  it :  "  He  hath  appointed  a  day,  in  the  which 
he  will  judge  the  world."  Acts  xvii.  31.  So  also  no 
man  can  die  a  moment  sooner,  or  live  a  moment  longer 
than  God  pleases,  and  his  pleasure  and  his  counsel 
always  agree.  "  Is  there  not  an  appointed  time  to 
man  upon  earth?"  "  Seeing  his  days  are  determined, 
the  number  of  his  months  is  with  thee,  thou  hast  ap- 
pointed his  bounds  that  he  cannot  pass."'  Job  vii.  1 
and  xiv.  5.  Nor  is  this  doctrine  offensive  to  the  pious. 
Job  says  :  '-'All  the  days  of  my  appointed  time  will  I 
wait,  till  my  change  come."  Job  xiv.  14.  The  subver- 
sion of  the  plots  of  the  wicked  is  in  Scripture  ascribed 
to  their  running  counter  to  God's  fixed  plan.  "For 
the  Lord  had  appointed  to  defeat  the  good  counsel  of 
Ahithophel,  to  the  intent  that  the  Lord  might  bring 
10 


110  god's  purpose  of  grace. 

evil  upon  Absalom."  2  Sam.  xvii.  14.  God's  word  no 
less  clearly  declares  that  the  wicked  rejection  of  Jesus 
Christ  by  sinners,  instead  of  defeating,  is  executing 
God's  plan.  For  he  is  "  a  stone  of  stumbling,  and  a 
rock  of  offence,  even  to  them,  which  stumble  at  the 
word,  being  disobedient:  whereunto  also  they  were 
appointed."  1  Pet.  ii.  8. 

Again :  the  Scriptures  call  God's  fixed  plan  his 
counsel  and  declare  its  unchangeableness.  If  it  could 
be  changed,  it  would  be  either  for  the  better,  or  for 
the  worse.  If  it  could  be  changed  for  the  better,  it  is 
now  imperfect.  If  it  should  be  changed  for  the  worse 
it  would  become  imperfect.  In  either  case,  it  would 
be  unworthy  of  God.  But  it  cannot  be  changed  :  "  I 
am  God  and  there  is  none  like  me,  declaring  the  end 
from  the  beginning,  and  from  ancient  times  the  things 
that  are  not  yet  done,  saying,  My  counsel  shall  stand, 
and  I  will  do  all  my  pleasure."  Isa.  xlvi.  9,  10.  "  The 
counsel  of  the  Lord  standeth  for  ever,  the  thoughts  of 
his  heart  to  all  generations."  Psa.  xxxiii.  11.  No 
plotting  and  ingenuity  and  malice  of  man  can  hinder 
what  God  will  do.  "  There  are  many  devices  in  a 
man's  heart ;  nevertheless  the  counsel  of  the  Lord, 
that  shall  stand."  Prov.  xix.  21.  The  Apostles  held 
that  God's  plan  was  carried  out,  even  in  the  wicked- 
ness shown  towards  Christ,  and  they  adoringly  said 
that  his  enemies  "  were  gathered  together  for  to  do 
whatsoever  thy  hand  and  thy  counsel  determined  be- 
fore to  be  done."  Acts  iv.  28.  Indeed  Paul  says  that 
God  does  "  all  things  after  the  counsel  of  his  own  will." 
Eph.  i.  11.  He  also  says  that  God  has  taken  great 
care  "  to  show  unto  the  heirs  of  promise  the  immuta- 
bility of  his  counsel."  Heb.  vi.  17. 


god's  pttrpose  of  grace.  Ill 

In  like  manner  the  Bible  speaks  of  God's  purpose ; 
and  says  that  our  conversion  is  in  fulfilment  of  it — 
"  called  according  to  his  purpose."  It  declares  that 
this  purpose  embraces  the  destinies  of  men.  Before 
Rebecca  had  given  birth  to  any  child  it  was  said, 
"  The  elder  shall  serve  the  younger,"  and  all  this  Paul 
says  was,  "  that  the  purpose  of  God  according  to  elec- 
tion might  stand."  Bom.  viii.  28  and  ix.  11.  Nor  is 
God's  purpose  temporal,  or  mutable,  but  he  conducts 
all  things  "  according  to  the  eternal  purpose  which  he 
purposed  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord."  Eph.  iii.  11. 
Here  is  the  foundation  of  all  our  hopes  of  life  ;  for  he 
"  hath  saved  us,  and  called  us  with  a  holy  calling,  not 
according  to  our  works,  but  according  to  his  own  pur- 
pose and  grace,  which  was  given  us  in  Christ  Jesus 
before  the  world  began."  2  Tim.  i.  9. 

Nor  are  inspired  writers  afraid  of  the  word,  predes- 
tination, or  of  the  doctrine  taught  thereby  :  "  Whom 
he  did  foreknow,  he  also  did  predestinate  to  be  con- 
formed to  the  image  of  his  Son,  that  he  might  be  the 
first-born  among  many  brethren.  Moreover,  whom  he 
did  predestinate,  them  he  also  called  ;  and  whom  he 
called,  them  he  also  justified ;  and  whom  he  justified, 
them  he  also  glorified."  Bom.  viii.  29,  30.  "  Having 
predestinated  us  unto  the  adoption  of  children  by  Jesus 
Christ  to  himself,  according  to  the  good  pleasure  of 
his  will."  Eph.  i.  5.     See  also  verses  11  and  12. 

We  also  find  election  taught  throughout  God's  word 
and  in  many  ways.  1.  God's  well-beloved  and  eternal 
Son  was  chosen  out  of  all  in  the  universe  to  be  the  Re- 
deemer of  lost  men.  Accordingly  in  Isaiah  xlii.  1.  and 
in  1  Pet.  ii.  6,  Christ  is  called  God's  elect.  I  nave 
never  seen  the   professing  Christian,  who  was  bold 


112  god's  purpose  of  grace. 

enough  to  deny  that  our  Saviour  was  "  chosen  of  God." 
Augustine  well  says  :  "  The  highest  illustration  of  pre- 
destination and  grace,  is  in  the  Saviour  himself,  the 
man  Christ  Jesus,  who  has  acquired  this  character  in 
his  human  nature,  without  any  previous  merit  either 
of  works  or  of  faith."  2.  Election  extends  to  the  an- 
gels, some  of  whom  are  holy  and  happy,  others  sinful 
and  miserable.  The  holy  ones  are  expressly  called 
"elect  angels.''  1  Tim.  v.  21.  3.  When  some  angels 
and  all  men  had  fallen  under  condemnation,  God's 
electing  love  turned  towards  sinners  of  the  human  race 
and  not  at  all  towards  fallen  angels.  John  iii.  16 ; 
2  Pet.  ii.  4.  4.  When  all  nations  were  rapidly  hasten- 
ing to  idolatry  and  gross  corruption,  God  selected  one 
man  and  granted  to  him  and  his  descendants  peculiar 
privileges  and  mercies.  "  He  did  choose  Abram  and 
did  bring  him  forth  out  of  Ur  of  the  Chaldees."  From 
that  time  for  generations  this  family  was  often  spoken 
of  as  the  chosen,  the  elect  of  God.  Deut.  iv.  37  and 
vii.  6 — 8 ;  1  Chron.  xvi.  13,  14  :  Psa.  xxxii.  12,  and 
in  many  other  places.  5.  God  also  exercises  his  choice 
as  to  the  heirs  of  salvation.  They  are  called  "  God's 
elect."  Rom.  viii.  33.  Christ  calls  them  "the  elect." 
Matt.  xxiv.  22,  24,  31 ;  Luke  xviii.  7.  Paul  says, 
"  God  hath  chosen  us  in  Christ  before  the  foundation 
of  the  world  that  we  should  be  holy  and  without  blame 
before  him  in  love."  Eph.  i.  4.  How  any  man  can 
dispose  of  all  these  texts  without  rejecting  God's  word, 
and  yet  refuse  to  admit  decrees,  predestination  and 
election,  it  is  not  easy  to  tell.  Is  anything  more  fixed 
than  the  events  of  death,  judgment  and  eternity  with 
all  that  shall  be  done  therein  ?  Every  man  plans,  pur- 
poses, predestinates,  before  he  acts  or  builds.     Has 


god's  purpose  of  grace.  113 

the  Builder  of  the  universe  no  plan,  no  purpose  ?  As 
to  whether  we  first  chose  Christ,  or  Christ  us,  what 
Christian  can  have  a  doubt,  when  he  remembers  his 
own  vile  wanderings,  and  Christ's  explicit  teachings  ? 
"Ye  have  not  chosen  me,  but  I  have  chosen  you." 
John  xv.  16.  Indeed  what  is  a  prophecy  but  a  re- 
vealed decree  ?  What  is  a  decree  but  a  purpose  not 
revealed,  not  made  known  in  prophecy  ? 

The  consent  of  the  people  of  God  in  all  periods  of 
the  Christian  Church  has  been  as  remarkably  in  favour 
of  the  doctrine  here  maintained  as  in  regard  to  any 
other.  Formal  opposition  to  it  by  those,  who  other- 
wise stood  fair  in  God's  Church,  was  unknown  to  the 
ancients.  How  clearly  this  doctrine  was  taught  by 
Augustine  all  well-informed  people  know :  "  Intra 
mundum  facti  sumus,  et  ante  mundum  electi  sumus." 
"  We  are  made  in  time,  but  we  were  chosen  before  the 
world  began."  "Before  he  made  us,  he  foreknew  us, 
and  he  chose  us  in  his  foreknowledge  when  he  had  not 
as  yet  made  us."  "  Out  of  those  to  whom  the  right- 
eous Lord  had  adjudged  punishment,  according  to  the 
unspeakable  mercy  of  his  hidden  dispensation,  he 
chose  out  vessels,  which  he  might  fit  for  honour."  Au- 
gustine also  quotes  the  following  from  Ambrose's  book 
on  predestination :  "  Whom  Christ  has  mercy  on,  him 
he  calls.  Those  who  were  indevout,  he  could,  if  he 
would,  have  made  devout.  But  God  calls  whom  he 
pleases,  and  makes  whom  he  will  religious."  Augus- 
tine took  the  right  view  of  this  doctrine  when  he  said : 
"  Do  you  wish  to  dispute  with  me  ?  Bather  unite  with 
me  in  admiration,  and  exclaim,  0  the  depth  !  Let  us 
both  agree  in  fear,  lest  we  perish  in  error."  More  ex- 
plicit statements  he  could  not  make. 
10* 


114  god's  purpose  of  grace. 

Fulgentius  says :  "  God,  who  has  made  man,  did 
himself  prepare,  in  his  predestination,  both  the  gift  of 
illumination  to  believe,  and  the  gift  of  perseverance  to 
profit  and  persevere,  and  the  gift  of  glorification  to 
reign,  for  those  to  whom  he  pleased  to  give  it ;  who 
also  does  not  any  otherwise  perform  indeed,  than  was 
ordained  by  his  eternal  and  unchangeable  will.  The 
truth  of  which  predestination,  whereby  the  Apostle 
witnesseth,  we  were  predestinated  in  Christ  before  the 
foundation  of  the  world,"  &c.  &c. 

Prosper  says  :  "  Predestinationem  Dei  nullus  catho- 
licus  negat."  "No  catholic  denies  the  predestination 
of  God."  "  The  belief  of  predestination  is  confirmed 
by  abundant  authority  of  the  holy  Scriptures,"  &c. 
"  From  the  punishment  of  the  sin  of  our  first  parent 
none  is  freed  but  by  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  prepared  and  predestinated  in  the  eternal  coun- 
sel of  God  before  the  foundation  of  the  world." 

The  Latter  Confession  of  Helvetia  says :  "  God 
hath  from  the  beginning,  and  of  his  mere  grace,  with- 
out any  respect  of  men,  predestinated  or  elected  the 
saints,  whom  he  will  save  in  Christ,"  and  quotes  Eph.  i. 
4,  and  2  Tim.  i.  9,  10.  "  Therefore,  though  not  for 
any  merit  of  ours,  yet  not  without  a  means,  but  in 
Christ,  and  for  Christ,  did  God  choose  us ;  and  they 
who  are  now  engrafted  into  Christ,  the  same  also  were 
elected." 

The  Confession  of  Basle  says :  "  We  confess,  that 
God,  before  he  had  created  the  world,  had  chosen  all 
those  to  whom  he  would  freely  give  the  inheritance  of 
eternal  blessedness,"  and  quotes  Rom.  viii.  29,  30,  and 
Eph.  i.  4—6. 

The  Confession  of  France  says :  "  We  believe  that 


god's  purpose  of  grace.  115 

out  of  this  universal  corruption  and  condemnation, 
wherein  by  nature  all  men  are  drowned,  God  did  deli- 
ver and  preserve  some,  whom,  by  his  eternal  and  im- 
mutable counsel,  of  his  own  goodness  and  mercy,  with- 
out any  respect  of  their  works,  he  did  choose  in  Christ 
Jesus ;  and  others  he  left  in  that  corruption  and  con- 
demnation, in  whom  he  might  make  manifest  his  jus- 
tice, by  condemning  them  justly  in  their  time,  as  well 
as  declare  the  riches  of  his  mercy  in  the  others.  For 
some  are  not  better  than  others,  till  such  time  as  the 
Lord  doth  make  a  difference,  according  to  that  immu- 
table counsel,  which  he  had  decreed  in  Christ  Jesus 
before  the  creation  of  the  world." 

The  Confession  of  Scotland  says  :  "  That  same  eter- 
nal God,  who  of  mere  grace  elected  us  in  Christ  Jesus 
his  Son,  before  the  foundation  of  the  world  was  laid, 
(Eph.  i.  11,  12,)  appointed  him  to  be  our  head,''  &c. 

The  Confession  of  Belgia  says  :  "  We  believe  that 
God  *  *  hath  showed  himself  to  be  both  merciful  and 
just:  merciful,  by  delivering  and  saving  those  from 
condemnation  and  from  death,  whom,  in  his  eternal 
counsel,  of  his  own  free  goodness,  he  hath  chosen  in 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  without  any  regard  at  all  of 
their  works ;  but  just,  in  leaving  others  in  that  their 
fall  and  perdition,  whereinto  they  had  thrown  them- 
selves headlong." 

The  Synod  of  Dort  says :  "  Election  is  the  unchange- 
able purpose  of  God,  by  which,  before  the  foundation 
of  the  world,  according  to  the  most  free  pleasure  of  his 
will,  and  of  his  mere  grace,  out  of  all  mankind  (fallen 
through  their  own  fault  from  their  first  integrity  into 
sin  and  destruction)  he  hath  chosen  in  Christ  unto  sal- 
vation a  set  number  of  certain  men,  neither  better  nor 


116  god's  purpose  of  grace. 

more  worthy  than  others,  hut  lying  in  the  common 
misery  with  others."  In  subsequent  sections  many 
explanations  are  given,  as  that  this  election  is  not 
manifold,  but  one  ;  that  it  was  not  made  upon  the  fore- 
sight of  faith  or  good  works,  but  was  unto  faith  and 
holiness ;  that  the  true  cause  of  this  free  election  is 
the  good  pleasure  of  God  ;  that  it  cannot  be  inter- 
rupted, changed,  revoked,  or  disannulled ;  that  this 
doctrine  is  to  be  reverently  received,  &c.  &c. 

The  Church  of  England  in  her  17th  Article  says : 
"  Predestination  to  life  is  the  everlasting  purpose  of 
God,  whereby  (before  the  foundations  of  the  earth 
were  laid)  he  hath  constantly  decreed  by  his  counsel, 
secret  to  us,  to  deliver  from  curse  and  damnation 
those,  whom  he  hath  chosen  in  Christ  out  of  mankind, 
and  to  bring  them  by  Christ  to  everlasting  salvation, 
as  vessels  made  to  honour.  Wherefore,  they  which  be 
endued  with  so  excellent  a  benefit  of  God,  be  called 
according  to  God's  purpose  by  his  Spirit  working  in 
due  season  :  they  through  grace  obey  the  calling :  they 
be  justified  freely :  they  be  made  sons  of  God  by 
adoption :  they  be  made  like  the  image  of  his  only 
begotten  Son,  Jesus  Christ :  they  walk  religiously  in 
good  works :  and  at  length,  by  God's  mercy,  they  at- 
tain to  everlasting  felicity. 

"As  the  godly  consideration  of  predestination,  and 
our  election  in  Christ,  is  full  of  sweet,  pleasant,  and 
unspeakable  comfort  to  godly  persons,  and  such  as  feel 
in  themselves  the  working  of  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  mor- 
tifying the  works  of  the  flesh,  and  their  earthly  mem- 
bers, and  drawing  up  their  mind  to  high  and  heavenly 
things,  (as  well  because  it  doth  greatly  establish  and 
confirm  their  faith  of  eternal  salvation  to  be  enjoyed 


god's  purpose  of  grace.  117 

through  Christ,  as  because  it  doth  fervently  kindle 
their  love  towards  God  ;)  so,  for  curious  and  carnal 
persons,  lacking  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  to  have  conti- 
nually before  their  eyes  the  sentence  of  God's  predes- 
tination, is  a  most  dangerous  downfall,  whereby  the 
devil  cloth  thrust  them  either  into  desperation,  or  into 
wretchedness  of  most  unclean  living,  no  less  perilous 
than  desperation. 

"  Furthermore,  we  must  receive  God's  promises  in 
such  wise  as  they  be  generally  set  forth  to  us  in  holy 
Scripture.  And  in  our  doings  that  will  of  God  is  to 
be  followed,  which  we  have  expressly  declared  unto  us 
in  the  word  of  God." 

The  Church  of  Ireland  has  made  up  her  Article  on 
"  God's  eternal  decree  and  predestination,"  from  three 
sources;  1.  The  Confession  of  the  Westminster  As- 
sembly ;  2.  The  17th  Article  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land ;  and  3.  The  celebrated  Lambeth  Articles.  That 
the  reader  may  have  a  conception  of  the  strength  and 
clearness  of  these  last,  a  few  of  them  are  inserted. 
They  were  agreed  upon  at  Lambeth,  the  20th  of 
November,  A.  D.  1595.  Archbishop  Whitgift  and 
Bishops  Bancroft  and  Vaughan  were  among  the  able 
and  staunch  friends  of  these  Articles ;  "  By  the  same 
eternal  counsel,  God  hath  predestinated  some  unto 
life,  and  reprobated  some  unto  death ;  of  both  which 
there  is  a  certain  number,  which  can  neither  be  in- 
creased nor  diminished.  The  cause  moving  God  to 
predestinate  unto  life,  is  not  the  foreseeing  of  faith,  or 
good  works,  or  of  anything,  which  is  in  the  person 
predestinated,  but  only  the  good  pleasure  of  God  him- 
self. But  such  as  are  not  predestinated  to  salvation, 
shall  finally  be  condemned  for  their  sins."     The  West- 


118  god's  purpose  of  grace. 

minster  Confession  says  that  "  God  from  all  eternity 
did,  by  the  most  wise  and  holy  counsel  of  his  own  will, 
freely  and  unchangeably  ordain  whatsoever  comes  to 
pass :  yet  so  as  thereby  neither  is  God  the  author  of 
sin,  nor  is  violence  offered  to  the  will  of  the  creatures, 
nor  is  the  liberty  or  contingency  of  second  causes  taken 
away,  but  rather  established."  Much  more  is  said 
to  the  same  purpose,  but  quite  coincident  with  what 
has  been  already  quoted  from  the  same  and  other  sym- 
bols. 

The  great  lights  of  the  Church  in  modern  times  have 
also  spoken  with  much  force  on  this  subject.  Luther, 
in  commenting  on  the  words  "  who  separated  me  from 
my  mother's  womb,"  (Gal.  i.  15,)  says :  "  This  is  a 
Hebrew  phrase ;  as  if  he  said,  Who  had  sanctified,  or- 
dained and  prepared  me.  That  is,  God  had  appointed, 
when  I  was  yet  in  my  mother's  womb,  that  I  should  so 
rage  against  his  Church,  and  that  afterward  he  would 
mercifully  call  me  back  again  from  the  midst  of  my 
cruelty  and  blasphemy,  by  his  mere  grace,  into  the 
way  of  truth  and  salvation.  To  be  short,  when  I  was 
not  yet  born,  I  was  an  apostle  in  the  sight  of  God,  and 
when  the  time  was  come,  I  was  declared  an  apostle 
before  the  whole  world. 

"  Thus  Paul  cutteth  off  all  deserts,  and  giveth  glory 
to  God  alone,  but  to  himself  shame  and  confusion. 
As  though  he  would  say,  All  the  gifts,  both  small  and 
great,  as  well  spiritual  as  temporal,  which  God  pur- 
posed to  give  unto  me,  and  all  the  good  things,  which 
at  any  time  in  all  my  life  I  should  do,  God  himself  had 
before  appointed  when  I  was  yet  in  my  mother's  womb, 
where  I  could  neither  wish,  nor  think,  nor  do  any  good 
thing.     Therefore  this  gift  also  came  unto  me  by  the 


god's  purpose  of  grace.  119 

mere  predestination  and  free  mercy  of  God,  before  I 
was  born." 

Calvin  says  :  "  We  shall  never  be  convinced  as  we 
ought  to  be,  that  our  salvation  flows  from  the  fountain 
of  God's  free  mercy,  till  we  are  acquainted  with  his 
eternal  election,  which  illustrates  the  grace  of  God  by 
this  comparison,  that  he  adopts  not  all  promiscuously 
to  the  hope  of  salvation,  but  gives  to  some  what  he 
refuses  to  others.  Ignorance  of  this  principle  evi- 
dently detracts  from  the  divine  glory,  and  diminishes 
real  humility." 

Beveridge  says :  "If  God  hath  elected  us,  it  is  in 
vain  for  men  or  devils  to  accuse  us;  if  he  be  our 
friend,  it  is  in  vain  for  any  one  to  be  our  foe." 

Charnock  says :  "  Conformity  to  God  in  purity  is 
the  fruit  of  electing  love.  He  hath  chosen  us  that  we 
should  be  holy.  Eph.  i.  4.  The  goodness  of  the  fruit 
evidences  the  nature  of  the  root ;  this  is  the  seal  that 
assures  us  the  patent  is  the  authentic  grant  of  the 
prince." 

John  Newton  says :  "Admitting  the  total  depravity 
of  human  nature,  how  can  we  account  for  the  conver- 
sion of  a  soul  to  God,  unless  we  likewise  admit  an 
election  of  grace  ?  The  work  must  begin  somewhere. 
Either  the  sinner  first  seeks  the  Lord,  or  the  Lord 
first  seeks  the  sinner.  The  former  is  impossible,  if  by 
nature  we  are  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins.  *  *  Let  me 
appeal  to  yourself.  I  think  you  know  yourself  too 
well  to  say  that  you  either  sought  or  loved  the  Lord 
first." 

Flavel  says :  "  God  hath  chosen  some  to  salvation 
and  passed  by  others."     "God's  choice  was  not  on 


120  god's  purpose  of  grace. 

foreseen  works,  but  merely  of  his  grace,  and  good 
pleasure  of  his  will." 

Leighton  says :  u  The  foreknowledge  of  God  is  no 
other  than  that  eternal  love  of  God,  or  decree  of  elec- 
tion, by  which  some  are  appointed  unto  life,  and  being 
foreknown  or  elected  to  that  end,  are  predestinate  to 
the  way  of  it."  "  That  thus  he  chooseth  some,  and 
rejecteth  others,  is  for  that  great  end,  to  manifest  and 
magnify  his  mercy  and  justice  :  but  why  he  appointed 
this  man  for  the  one,  and  that  man  for  the  other, 
made  Peter  a  vessel  of  this  mercy,  and  Judas  of  wrath, 
this  is  even  so,  because  it  seemed  good  to  him.  This 
if  it  be  harsh,  yet  is  apostolic  doctrine.  Hath  not  the 
potter  (saith  St.  ¥&xi\)poiver  over  the  clay,  of  the  same 
lump  to  make  one  vessel  unto  honour  and  another  unto 
dishonour  ?  This  deep  we  must  admire,  and  always,  in 
considering  it,  close  with  this :  0  the  depth  of  the  riches, 
both  of  the  wisdom  a^d  knowledge  of  God  /" 

A  class  of  honest  but  timid  people,  who  embrace 
these  views,  yet  ask,  Should  this  doctrine  be  preached  ? 
The  answer  is  in  the  affirmative ;  1.  Because  Christ 
and  his  Apostles  preached  it.  Their  example  is  safe. 
2.  It  is  conducive  to  holiness  when  rightly  understood 
and  sincerely  loved.  3.  It  is  full  of  comfort  to  the 
humble.  But  then  it  should  be  preached  as  Christ 
and  his  Apostles  preached  it.  Augustine  says  :  "  Both 
the  grace  of  free  election  and  predestination,  and 
also  wholesome  admonitions  and  doctrines  are  to  be 
preached." 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

god's  word  teaches  the  doctrines  of  GRACE. — THE 

FATHERS   ALSO. 

The  doctrine  of  gratuitous  salvation  is  prominent 
in  the  teachings  of  inspired  men.  It  is  implied  in  the 
whole  structure  of  revelation.  It  is  expressly  taught 
in  many  places.  Even  on  Mount  Sinai,  amidst  all  the 
grandeur  and  terror  of  that  scene,  the  Lord  passed 
by  and  proclaimed  himself,  "  The  Lord,  the  Lord  God, 
merciful  and  gracious,  long-suffering,  and  abundant  in 
goodness  and  truth,  keeping  mercy  for  thousands,  for- 
giving iniquity,  transgression  and  sin,  and  that  will  by 
no  means  clear  the  guilty."  Exod.  xxxiv.  6,  7.  Al- 
though in  this  passage  we  have  a  clear  revelation  of 
God's  inflexible  justice,  yet  we  have  also  a  rich  variety 
of  expression  revealing  his  grace.  That  great  patriot, 
soldier,  and  statesman,  renowned  for  his  piety  in  days 
of  general  wickedness,  Nehemiah,  having  given  an  ac- 
count of  all  his  labours,  perils  and  sufferings  says : 
"  Remember  me,  0  my  God,  concerning  this  also,  and 
spare  me  according  to  the  greatness  of  thy  mercy." 
Neh.  xiii.  22.  To  this  day  convinced  and  penitent 
sinners  find  no  language  more  appropriate  to  their 
wants,  when  pleading  for  mercy  and  asking  for  grace, 
than  that  used  by  David,  by  Daniel,  and  other  Old 
Testament  saints.  The  wants  of  sinners  as  such  are 
in  all  ages  the  same.  The  parable  of  the  pharisee  and 
11  (121) 


122  god's  word  teaches 

the  publican,  the  parable  of  the  prodigal  son,  the  parable 
of  the  two  debtors,  and  many  other  teachings  of  Jesus 
Christ,  clearly  show  that  he  led  men  to  hope  for  salva- 
tion as  a  gift,  and  in  no  other  way.  One  of  our  Lord's 
sayings  has  been  very  dear  to  afflicted  consciences  ever 
since  it  was  uttered,  and  shall  be  so  while  the  world 
stands :  "  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his 
only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him 
should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life." 

But  in  the  Epistles,  especially  those  of  Paul,  the 
doctrines  of  grace  are  stated  with  great  clearness  and 
fulness.  In  particular  the  fact  of  our  salvation  being 
a  gratuity  is  unmistakably  announced.  The  following 
texts  are  considered  sufficient:  "But  now  the  right- 
eousness of  God  without  the  law  is  manifested,  being 
witnessed  by  the  law  and  the  prophets ;  even  the  right- 
eousness of  God,  which  is  by  faith  of  Jesus  Christ  unto 
all,  and  upon  all  them  that  believe ;  for  there  is  no 
difference  :  for  all  have  sinned  and  come  short  of  the 
glory  of  God ;  being  justified  freely  by  his  grace, 
through  the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus  ;  whom 
God  hath  set  forth  to  be  a  propitiation,  through  faith 
in  his  blood,  to  declare  his  righteousness  for  the  remis- 
sion of  sins  that  are  past,  through  the  forbearance  of 
God ;  to  declare,  I  say,  at  this  time  his  righteousness : 
that  he  might  be  just,  and  the  justifier  of  him,  which 
believeth  in  Jesus.  Where  is  boasting  then  ?  It  is  ex- 
cluded. By  what  law  ?  of  works  ?  Nay  :  but  by  the 
law  of  faith."    Bom.  iii.  21 — 27.     Here  we  are  taught 

1.  that  the  righteousness  of  God  is  without  the  law ; 

2.  that  it  yet  meets  the  deufands  of  law,  for  God  is 
just,  when  he  justifies  ;  3.  that  boasting  is,  by  God's 
method  of  saving,  cut  off  in  every  case ;  and  4.  that 


THE   DOCTRINES    OF    GRACE.  123 

this  is  done  not  by  works  but  by  faith.  Soon  after- 
wards Paul  speaks  thus  :  "  Now  to  him  that  worketh,  is 
the  reward  not  reckoned  of  grace,  but  of  debt.  But 
to  him  that  worketh  not,  but  believeth  on  Him  that 
justifieth  the  ungodly,  his  faith  is  counted  for  right- 
eousness." Rom.  iv.  4,  5.  Here  whatever  works  mean, 
faith  is  just  the  opposite ;  whatever  debt  is,  grace  is 
its  opposite.  If  you  owe  a  man  a  shilling  and  pay  it, 
you  do  not  bestow  on  him  a  gift.  If  you  owe  him 
nothing  and  hand  him  a  shilling,  it  is  not  paying  a 
debt.  The  same  thing  cannot  be  both  a  gratuity  and 
the  payment  of  a  debt. 

'.-  Again :  "Where  sin  abounded,  grace  did  much  more 
abound,  that  as  sin  hath  reigned  unto  death,  even  so 
might  grace  reign  through  righteousness  unto  eternal 
life,  by  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord."  Rom.  v.  20,  21.  Here 
we  have,  1.  the  utter  ruin  of  man — "  sin  abounded ;" 
2.  the  glory  and  fulness  of  God's  scheme  for  saving 
men — "grace  did  much  more  abound;"  3.  God  saves 
not  by  trampling  on  justice,  but  "  grace  reigns  through 
righteousness ;"  4.  the  salvation  of  the  gospel  is  not 
limited  by  the  temporal  blessings  it  brings — grace 
reigns  "unto  eternal  life  ;"  and  5.  no  man  is  the  author 
of  his  own  salvation,  but  it  is  all  "  by  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord."  Again :  "  The  gift  of  God  is  eternal  life 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord."  Rom.  vi.  23.  Nor 
did  Paul  teach  one  doctrine  to  the  Romans,  and  a  dif- 
ferent doctrine  to  other  churches.  To  the  Galatians 
he  says  :  "  We  who  are  Jews  by  nature,  and  not  sinners 
of  the  Gentiles,  knowing  that  a  man  is  not  justified  by 
the  works  of  the  law,  but  by  the  faith  of  Jesus  Christ, 
even  we  have  believed  in  Jesus  Christ,  that  we  might 
be  justified  by  the  faith  of  Christ,  and  not  by  the  works 


124  god's  word  teaches 

of  the  law  ;  for  by  the  works  of  the  law  shall  no  flesh 
be  justified.  *  *  The  life  which  I  now  live,  I  live  by  the 
faith  of  the  Son  of  God,  who  loved  me  and  gave  him- 
self for  me.  I  do  not  frustrate  the  grace  of  God  :  for 
if  righteousness  were  by  the  law,  then  Christ  is  dead 
in  vain."  Gal.  ii.  15,  16,  20,  21.  He  could  not  more 
clearly  teach  that  a  denial  of  gratuitous  salvation  sub- 
verts the  whole  gospel  scheme.  Indeed  he  teaches  at 
large  that  "  as  many  as  are  of  the  works  of  the  law, 
are  under  the  curse  :  for  it  is  written,  "  Cursed  is  every 
one  that  continueth  not  in  all  things,  which  are  written 
in  the  book  of  the  law,  to  do  them.  But  that  no  man 
is  justified  by  the  law  in  the  sight  of  God,  it  is  evident 
for,  The  just  shall  live  by  faith."  Gal.  iii.  10,  11. 
Again  :  "  Christ  is  become  of  no  effect  unto  you,  who- 
soever of  you  are  justified  by  the  law  ;  ye  are  fallen 
from  grace.  For  we  through  the  Spirit  wait  for  the 
hope  of  righteousness  by  faith."  Gal.  v.  4,  5.  To 
the  Corinthians  he  says  :  "  By  the  grace  of  God  I  am 
what  I  am."  1  Cor.  xv.  10.  To  a  fourth  church  he 
twice  says:  "By  grace  are  ye  saved."  Eph.  ii.  5,  8. 
To  another  he  says  that  God  even  our  Father  "hath 
loved  us,  and  given  us  everlasting  consolation  and 
good  hope  through  grace."  2  Thess.  ii.  16.  To  Titus  he 
says  that  "  not  by  works  of  righteousness  which  we 
have  done,  but  according  to  his  mercy  hath  he  saved 
us."  If  any  want  yet  other  proofs  they  can  consult 
Rom.  iii.  24;  v.  4,  8,  15,  17,  20,  and  21.  Paul 
takes  pains  to  remind  us  that  grace  excludes  works, 
and  works  grace.  He  argues  that  if  salvation  be  "by 
grace,  then  it  is  no  more  by  works :  otherwise  grace  is 
no  more  grace.  But  if  it  be  of  works,  then  it  is  no 
more  grace  :  otherwise  work  is  no  more  work.     Rom. 


THE    DOCTRINES    OF    GRACE.  125 

xi.  6.  Wages  is  one  thing,  a  debt  is  another  thing. 
The  merits  of  men,  if  pleaded  for  righteousness,  ex- 
clude the  merits  of  Christ.  The  merits  of  Christ,  if 
accepted  for  salvation,  exclude  our  own  merits. 

It  is  truly  refreshing  to  find  the  early  writers  of  the 
Christian  church,  after  the  apostles'  days,  speaking  so 
clearly  as  they  often  do  on  this  subject.  Clement  of 
Rome,  a  cotemporary  and  fellow  labourer  of  Paul,  re- 
ferring to  the  Old  Testament  Fathers  says  :  "  All  were 
glorified  and  exalted,  not  by  themselves,  nor  by  their 
works,  nor  by  the  righteousness  they  have  wrought  out, 
but  by  his  will.  We,  therefore,  being  called  by  his 
will  in  Christ,  are  not  justified  by  ourselves,  nor  by  our 
own  wisdom,  understanding  or  piety,  nor  by  any  works, 
which  we  have  wrought  in  the  holiness  of  our  hearts ; 
but  we  are  justified  by  faith,  by  which  God  Almighty 
has  justified  all  from  the  beginning  of  the  world." 
Polycarp,  the  disciple  of  John  and  the  venerable  wit- 
ness of  Christ,  says  :  "  Let  us  incessantly  and  stead- 
fastly adhere  to  Him,  who  is  our  hope,  and  the  earnest 
of  our  righteousness,  Jesus  Christ,  who  bore  our  sins 
in  his  own  body  on  the  tree  :  who  did  no  sin,  neither 
was  guile  found  in  his  mouth,  but  he  suffered  all  on  our 
account,  that  we  might  live  in  him."  Justin  Martyr 
says  that  God  "  gave  his  own  Son  a  propitiation  for  us, 
the  Holy  One  for  transgressors,  the  innocent  for  the 
guilty,  the  just  for  the  unjust,  the  incorruptible  for  the 
corrupt,  for  what  else  could  cover  our  sins  but  his  right- 
eousness ?  In  whom  was  it  possible  that  we,  who  are 
guilty  and  ungodly,  could  be  justified,  except  in  the 
Son  of  God  alone  ?  0  unsearchable  wonder  !  0  un- 
expected benefit !  that  the  sins  of  many  should  be  hid 
in  one,  and  that  the  righteousness  of  one  should  justify 
11* 


126  THE    FATHERS   TEACH 

many  transgressors."  Macarius  says  that,  "  whatever 
good  a  man  does  by  natural  strength  can  never  save 
him  without  the  grace  of  Jesus  Christ."  Ambrose 
says,  "  If  so  be  that  justification,  which  is  by  grace, 
were  due  unto  merits  going  before,  so  that  it  should 
not  be  a  gift  of  the  giver,  but  a  reward  of  the  worker, 
the  redemption  by  the  blood  of  Christ  would  grow  to 
be  of  small  account,  and  the  prerogative  of  man's 
works  would  not  yield  unto  the  mercies  of  God." 
Again :  "  They  are  evidently  blessed,  whose  iniquities 
are  forgiven,  without  any  labour  or  work,  and  whose 
sins  are  covered,  no  help  of  repentance  being  required 
of  them,  but  only  this  that  they  believe."  Again : 
"  They  are  justified  freely,  because  that  working 
nothing,  nor  requiting  anything,  by  faith  alone  they 
are  justified,  by  the  gift  of  God."  Hilary  says : 
"  It  offended  the  Scribes,  that  man  should  forgive  sin, 
(for  they  beheld  nothing  but  man  in  Jesus  Christ)  and 
that  he  should  forgive  that  which  the  law  could  not 
release.  For  faith  alone  doth  justify."  Chrysostom 
says :  "  Our  works,  if  there  be  any  consequent  on 
God's  gratuitous  vocation,  are  a  retribution  and  a  debt ; 
but  the  gifts  of  God  are  grace,  beneficence,  and  im- 
mense liberality.''  In  remarking  on  these  words, 
"  that  we  might  be  made  the  righteousness  of  God  in 
him,"  he  exclaims,  "  What  a  saying  !  what  mind  can 
comprehend  it?  For  he  made  a  just  person  a  sinner, 
that  he  might  make  sinners  just !  rather  I  should  say, 
he  says  more :  he  doth  not  say,  he  made  him  a  sin- 
ner, but  sin,  that  we  might  be  made  not  righteous,  but 
righteousness,  even  the  righteousness  of  God.  For  it 
is  of  God,  since  not  of  works  (which  would  require 
spotless  perfection)  but  by  grace  we  are  justified,  where 


THE    DOCTRINES    OF   GRACE.  127 

all  sin  is  blotted  out."  And  as  Paul  among  inspired  men, 
so  Augustine  among  the  Fathers  stands  out  the  great 
champion  of  the  doctrines  of  grace.  He  says :  "  Let 
human  merit,  which  was  lost  by  Adam,  here  be  silent, 
and  let  the  grace  of  God  reign  through  Jesus  Christ." 
"  The  saints  ascribe  nothing  to  their  own  merits  ;  they 
will  ascribe  all,  0  God,  only  to  thy  mercy."  "And 
when  a  man  sees  that  whatever  good  he  has,  he  has  it 
not  from  himself,  but  from  his  God,  he  sees  that  all 
that  is  commended  in  him,  proceeds  not  from  his  own 
merits,  but  from  the  divine  mercy."  "Thou  canst  not 
deliver  thyself.  Thou  hast  need  of  a  Saviour.  Why 
dost  thou  vaunt  thyself?  What  maketh  thee  to  pre- 
sume of  the  law  and  of  righteousness  ?  Seest  thou 
not  that  which  doth  fight  within  thee  ?  Dost  thou  not 
hear  one  that  striveth,  and  confesseth  his  weakness, 
and  desireth  aid  in  the  battle,  saying  c  0  wretched  man 
that  I  am,  who  shall  deliver  me?' "  &c 


CHAPTER    XVII 


WHAT   THE   MARTYRS    THOUGHT.  —  THE   REFORMERS. — 
OTHER   GOOD    MEN. 

Did  you  ever  hear  of  a  martyr  dying  in  the  tri- 
umphs of  self-righteousness,  giving  glory  to  nature, 
lauding  his  own  ability,  extolling  his  own  works  ?  All 
those  faithful  witnesses  held  one  doctrine,  viz.  that 
works  are  in  our  case  nothing,  and  grace  is  everything. 
Hear  blessed  old  Tyndall:  "If  thou  wouldst  obtain 
heaven  by  the  merits  and  deservings  of  thy  own  works, 
thou  wrongest  and  shamest  the  blood  of  Christ.  Faith 
only  justified!.  In  believing  we  receive  the  Spirit  of 
God,  which  is  the  earnest  of  eternal  life ;  and  we  are 
in  eternal  life  already,  and  already  feel  in  our  heart 
the  sweetness  thereof,  and  are  overcome  with  the  kind- 
ness of  God,  and  of  Christ,  and  therefore  we  love  the 
will  of  God,  and  of  love  are  ready  to  work  freely." 
And  that  ever-honoured  man,  great  Patrick  Hamilton., 
burned  at  St.  Andrews  in  the  year  1527,  spake  no  less 
decisively.  He  said:  "No  man  is  justified  by  the 
deeds  of  the  law,  but  by  the  faith  of  Christ.  He  was 
punished  for  thee,  and  therefore  thou  shalt  not  be  pun- 
ished. I  do  not  say  we  ought  to  do  no  good  deeds ; 
but  I  say  ~\ve  should  do  no  good  works  to  the  intent  to 
obtain,  remission  of  sins,  and  the  inheritance  of  heaven, 
for  God  saith,  Thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee  for  my  Son's 
'sake,  and  thou  shalt  have  the  inheritance  of  heaven  for 
(128) 


WHAT  THE  MARTYRS  AND  OTHERS   THOUGHT.    129 

my  Son's  sake.  I  condemn  not  good  deeds,  but  I  con- 
demn trust  in  any  works ;  for  all  the  works,  wherein  a 
man  putteth  any  confidence,  are  by  his  confidence  poi- 
soned, and  become  evil ;  wherefore  thou  must  do  good 
works,  and  beware  of  doing  them  with  the  view  to  de- 
serve any  good  for  them.  In  a  Christian  man's  life, 
and  in  order  of  doctrine,  there  is  the  law,  repentance, 
hope,  charity,  and  the  deeds  of  charity ;  yet  in  the  act 
of  justification  there  is  nothing  else  in  man  that  hath 
part  or  place  but  faith  alone,  apprehending  the  object, 
which  is  Christ  crucified,  in  whom  is  all  the  worthiness 
and  fulness  of  our  salvation."  Robert  Barnes,  an 
English  martyr  of  great  eminence,  says  :  "All  the  me- 
rits and  goodness,  grace  and  favour,  and  all  that  is  in 
Christ  to  our  salvation,  is  imputed  and  reckoned  unto 
us  because  we  hang  and  believe  on  him."  Cranmer 
says  that  when  we  believe,  "  God  doth  no  more  impute 
unto  us  our  former  sins,  but  he  doth  impute  and  give 
unto  us  the  justice  and  righteousness  of  his  Son  Jesus 
Christ,  which  suffered  for  us." 

The  Marquis  of  Argyle  on  the  scaffold  said,  "  Many 
look  on  my  condition  as  a  suffering  condition ;  but  I 
bless  the  Lord,  that  he  that  hath  gone  before  me,  hath 
trod  the  wine-press  of  the  Father's  wrath ;  by  whose 
sufferings,  I  hope  that  my  sufferings  shall  not  be  eter- 
nal. I  bless  him  that  hath  taken  away  the  sting  of 
my  sufferings :  I  may  say  that  my  charter  was  sealed 
to-day  ;  for  the  Lord  hath  said  to  me,  '  Son,  be  of  good 
cheer,  thy  sins  are  freely  forgiven  thee ;'  and  so  I 
hope  my  sufferings  shall  be  very  easy."  James  Guth- 
rie on  the  scaffold  said,  "  I  bless  God  and  die  not  as  a 
fool ;  not  that  I  have  anything  wherein  to  glory  in 
myself  j  I  acknowledge  that  I  am  a  sinner,  yea,  one 


130  WHAT  THE  MARTYRS  AND  OTHERS  THOUGHT. 

of  the  greatest  and  vilest  that  has  owned  a  profession 
of  religion,  and  one  of  the  most  unworthy  that  has 
preached  the  gospel ;  my  corruptions  have  been  strong 
and  many,  and  have  made  me  a  sinner  in  all  things, 
yea,  even  in  following  my  duty ;  and  therefore,  right- 
eousness have  I  none  of  mine  own ;  all  is  vile ;  but  I 
do  believe  that  '  Jesus  Christ  came  into  the  world  to 
save  sinners,  of  whom  I  am  chief.'  Through  faith  in 
his  righteousness  and  blood  have  I  obtained  mercy ; 
and  through  him  and  him  alone  have  I  the  hope  of  a 
blessed  conquest  and  victory  over  sin,  and  Satan,  and 
hell,  and  death." 

In  Rev.  vii.  9 — 17,  John  gives  us  the  following  ac- 
count of  the  martyrs  in  glory,  corresponding  exactly 
with  the  foregoing  views  of  the  martyrs  on  earth. 
"After  this  I  beheld,  and,  lo,  a  great  multitude,  which 
no  man  could  number,  of  all  nations,  and  kindreds, 
and  people,  and  tongues,  stood  before  the  throne,  and 
before  the  Lamb,  clothed  with  white  robes,  and  palms 
in  their  hands  ;  and  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  saying, 
Salvation  to  our  God  which  sitteth  upon  the  throne, 
and  unto  the  Lamb.  And  all  the  angels  stood  round 
about  the  throne,  and  about  the  elders  and  the  four 
beasts,  and  fell  before  the  throne  on  their  faces,  and 
worshipped  God,  saying,  Amen :  Blessing,  and  glory, 
and  wisdom,  and  thanksgiving,  and  honour,  and  power, 
and  might,  be  unto  our  God  for  ever  and  ever.  Amen. 
And  one  of  the  elders  answered,  saying  unto  me, 
What  are  these  which  are  arrayed  in  white  robes  ? 
and  whence  came  they  ?  And  I  said  unto  him,  Sir, 
thou  knowest.  And  he  said  to  me,  These  are  they 
which  came  out  of  great  tribulation,  and  have  washed 
their  robes,  and  made  them  white  in  the  blood  of  the 


WHAT  THE   MARTYRS  AND  OTHERS  THOUGHT.    131 

Lamb.  Therefore  are  they  before  the  throne  of  God, 
and  serve  him  day  and  night  in  his  temple :  and  he 
that  sitteth  on  the  throne  shall  dwell  among  them. 
They  shall  hunger  no  more,  neither  thirst  any  more  ; 
neither  shall  the  sun  light  on  them,  nor  any  heat :  for 
the  Lamb  which  is  in  the  midst  of  the  throne  shall  feed 
them,  and  shall  lead  them  unto  living  fountains  of  wa- 
ters :  and  God  shall  wipe  away  all  tears  from  their 
eyes." 

Many  other  great  men,  whose  praise  has  long  been 
in  the  churches  speak  the  same  things.  In  his  pro- 
testation upon  the  article  of  Justification,  Luther 
says  :  "  This  is  the  true  gospel,  Jesus  Christ  redeemed 
us  from  our  sins,  and  he  only.  This  most  firm  and 
certain  truth  is  the  voice  of  Scripture,  though  the 
world  and  all  the  devils  rage  and  roar.  If  Christ 
alone  take  away  our  sins,  we  cannot  do  this  with  our 
works ;  and  as  it  is  impossible  to  embrace  Christ  but 
by  faith,  it  is  therefore  impossible  to  apprehend  him 
by  works.  If,  then,  faith  alone  must  apprehend  Christ 
before  works  can  follow,  the  conclusion  is  irrefragable, 
that  faith  alone  apprehends  him,  before  and  without 
the  consideration  of  works ;  and  this  is  our  justifica- 
tion and  deliverance  from  sin.  Then,  and  not  till 
then,  good  works  follow  faith,  as  its  necessary  and  in- 
separable fruit." 

Calvin  in  his  last  will  says :  "I  witness  and  declare 
that  I  intend  not  to  seek  any  other  aid  or  refuge  for 
salvation,  than  his  free  adoption,  in  which  alone  salva- 
tion resteth ;  and  with  my  whole  heart  I  embrace  the 
mercy  which  he  hath  used  with  me  for  Jesus  Christ's 
sake,  recompensing  my  faults  with  the  merit  of  his 
death  and  passion,  that  satisfaction  might  be  made  by 


132   WHAT  THE  MARTYRS  AND  OTHERS   THOUGHT. 

this  means  for  all  my  sins  and  crimes,  and  the  remem- 
brance of  them  be  blotted  out.  I  witness  also  and  de- 
clare, that  I  humbly  beg  of  him,  that  being  washed 
and  cleansed  in  the  blood  of  that  highest  Redeemer, 
shed  for  the  sins  of  mankind,  I  may  stand  at  the  judg- 
ment-seat under  the  image  of  my  Redeemer." 

Zuingle  in  his  famous  LXVII  Articles  issued  in 
1523,  says :  (Art.  III.)  "  Christ  is  the  only  way  of 
salvation  to  all  who  ever  have  lived,  are  living  now,  or 
ever  shall  live."  Again,  (Art.  XXII.)  "  Christ  is  our 
righteousness.  Hence  it  follows  that  our  works  are  so 
far  good,  as  they  are  of  Christ ;  but  as  far  as  they  are 
ours,  they  are  not  truly  good." 

Peter  Martyr  says :  "  If  faith  itself  be  considered 
as  our  act,  it  is  impossible  we  should  be  justified  by  it, 
because  faith,  in  this  view  of  it,  is  lame  and  imperfect, 
and  falls  short  of  that  completeness  which  the  law  re- 
quires ;  but  we  are  said  to  be  justified  by  faith  because 
it  is  by  faith  that  we  lay  hold  upon,  and  apply  to  our- 
selves the  promises  of  God,  and  the  righteousness  and 
merits  of  Christ." 

Leighton  says  :  "  Free  grace,  being  rightly  appre- 
hended, is  that  which  stays  the  heart  in  all  estates. 
"What  though  there  be  nothing  in  myself  but  matter 
of  sorrow  and  discomfort ;  it  cannot  be  otherwise.  It 
is  not  from  myself  I  look  for  comfort  at  any  time,  but 
from  my  God  and  his  free  grace.  Here  is  comfort 
enough  for  all  times !  When  I  am  at  the  best,  I 
ought  not,  I  dare  not,  rely  on  myself.  When  at  the 
worst,  I  may  and  should  rely  upon  Christ,  and  his  suf- 
ficient grace." 

Whitefield  says  that  some  "  are  for  doing  what  they 
can  themselves  and  then  Jesus  Christ  is  to  make  up 


WHAT  THE  MARTYRS  AND  OTHERS  THOUGHT.    133 

the  deficiencies  of  their  righteousness.  This  is  the 
sum  and  substance  of  our  modern  divinity.  And  was 
it  possible  for  me  to  know  the  thoughts  of  most  that 
hear  me  this  day,  I  believe  they  would  tell  me  this 
was  the  scheme  they  had  laid,  and  perhaps  depended 
on,  for  some  years,  for  their  eternal  salvation.  Is  it 
not  then  high  time,  my  brethren,  for  you  to  entertain 
quite  different  thoughts  concerning  justification  by 
Jesus  Christ  ?  *  *  *  Salvation  is  the  free  gift  of  God. 
I  know  no  fitness  in  man  but  a  fitness  to  be  cast  into 
the  lake  of  fire  and  brimstone  for  ever.  Our  right- 
eousnesses in  God's  sight  are  but  as  filthy  rags.  He 
cannot  away  with  them.  Our  holiness,  if  we  have  any, 
is  not  the  cause,  but  the  effect  of  our  justification  in 
God's  sight.  '  We  love  him  because  he  first  loved 
us.'  *  *  Our  salvation  is  all  of  God  from  the  beginning 
to  the  end ;  it  is  not  of  works  lest  any  man  should 
boast.     Man  has  no  hand  in  it." 

Pemble  says  that  our  assent  to  the  promise  of  God 
must  be  "  of  the  whole  heart,  in  trust,  reliance,  de- 
pendence, adherence,  affiance,  or,  if  there  be  any  other 
word,  expressing  that  action  of  the  soul,  whereby  it 
casteth  and  reposeth  itself  only  upon  God's  promise  in 
Christ  for  obtaining  eternal  happiness.  The  heart, 
touched  with  the  spirit  of  grace,  throws  itself  into 
Christ's  arms,  grasping  him  with  all  its  might.  Hiding 
itself  in  the  clefts  of  this  rock  from  the  storms  of  God's 
furious  indignation,  it  bespeaks  Christ  in  all  the  terms 
of  confidence  and  affiance,  my  Lord,  my  God,  my  hope, 
my  fortress,  my  rock,  my  strength." 

Beart  in  his  treatise  entitled  the  Eternal  Law  and 
Everlasting  Gospel  says  :  "  The  essence  of  the  Gospel 
is  a  free  promise,  free  gift,  free  grace :  A  Saviour !  A 
12 


134  WHAT  THE  MAKTYRS  AND  OTHERS  THOUGHT. 

Saviour !  is  the  loud  proclamation  of  the  Gospel.  Jus- 
tification, as  it  is  the  application  of  the  righteousness 
of  Christ,  in  the  Spirit's  working  faith,  hath  an  unbe- 
lieving ungodly  man  for  its  object ;  as  it  is  an  acquit- 
tance or  declaring  righteous,  so  it  has  a  believer  for 
its  object,  God,  who  justifies  the  ungodly,  the  justifier 
of  him  who  believes  in  Jesus.  That  faith  in  Christ 
as  a  priest  is  the  foundation  of  all  obedience  to  him  as 
a  king,  must  be  inculcated.  0  here  lies  God's  order, 
to  bring  a  soul  to  Christ,  and  then  he  is  brought  to 
holiness !  Man's  order  is,  to  bring  him  to  holiness, 
that  he  may  come  to  Christ.  But  this  is  to  try  to 
wash  the  Ethiopian  white." 

Toplady  says  :  "  Fallen  man  can  never  know  what 
it  is  to  speed  his  way  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and 
make  large  advances  in  sanctification,  till  his  progress 
is  disembarrassed  by  a  full  submission  to  the  righteous- 
ness of  God  the  Son,  as  the  sole  procuring  cause  of 
eternal  blessedness." 

Among  the  dying  words  of  John  Brown  of  Had- 
dington were  these  :  "  The  command  is  '  Owe  no  man 
anything.'  What  a  mercy  that  there  is  no  such  pre- 
cept as  this :  Owe  a  Saviour  nothing ;  or  even  this : 
Study  to  owe  him  as  little  as  possible."  "  0  what  a 
mercy  that  my  admission  into  eternal  life  does  not  in 
the  least  depend  on  my  ability  for  anything ;  but  I,  as 
a  poor  sinner,  will  win  in  leaning  on  Christ,  as  the 
Lord  my  righteousness  ;  on  Christ  *  made  of  God  unto 
me  righteousness,  sanctification  and  redemption.'  I 
have  nothing  to  sink  my  spirits  but  my  sins  ;  and  these 
need  not  sink  me  either,  since  the  great  God  is  my 
Saviour."  "I  have  altered  my  mind  about  many 
things ;  but  I  am  now  of  the  same  mind  that  ever  I 


"WHAT  THE   MARTYRS  AND  OTHERS  THOUGHT.   135 

was,  as  to  grace  and  salvation  through  Christ."  One 
of  Nevins's  dying  sayings  was:  "I  recommend  Christ 
to  you;  I  have  nothing  else  to  recommend."  And 
blessed  McCheyne  said :  "  Live  within  sight  of  Cal- 
vary and  you  will  live  within  sight  of  glory."  Vinet 
says,  "  Grace,  as  it  is  manifested  in  the  Gospel,  is  the 
most  splendid  homage  "which  the  law  can  receive.  *  * 
The  same  act  proclaims  the  compassion  of  God,  and 
the  inflexibility  of  his  justice."  As  Dr.  Nettleton  drew 
very  near  his  end,  he  said  "the  great  truths  of  the 
Gospel  appear  more  precious  than  ever ;  and  they  are 
the  truths  which  now  sustain  my  soul."  Again  :  "I 
do  not  need  anybody  to  tell  me  that  the  doctrines  of 
grace  are  true.  I  am  fully  convinced  of  their  truth 
by  my  own  experience." 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


THE   GRACE   OF  CHRIST  NOT   DIFFERENT   FROM   THAT  OF 
THE   FATHER   OR   SPIRIT. 

It  would  be  a  great  mistake  if  any  should  suppose 
that  the  grace  of  Christ  is  greater  than  that  of  the 
Father  or  of  the  Spirit,  or  that  the  love  of  Christ  dif- 
fers from  the  love  of  the  first  and  third  persons  of 
the  Trinity.  The  truth  is,  the  grace  of  each  person 
of  the  Godhead  in  man's  salvation  is  absolutely  infinite 
and  amazing.  The  "help  of  the  Spirit/'  and  "the 
love  of  the  Spirit,"  are  forms  of  expression  as  dear  to 
the  church  of  God  as  any  found  in  Scripture.  So  also 
when  "  grace,  mercy  and  peace  from  God  the  Father 
and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  are  brought  to  our  notice, 
we  see  at  once  how  inspiration  refuses  to  separate 
between  the  love  and  grace  of  one  person,  and  the  love 
and  grace  of  another  person  of  the  Godhead.  Some- 
times all  three  persons  are  spoken  of  in  one  verse,  as  in 
2  Cor.  xiii.  14.  "  The  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
the  love  of  God,  and  the  communion  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  be  with  you  all."  The  concord  of  the  divine 
persons  is  no  less  than  the  harmony  of  the  divine  attri- 
butes in  the  work  of  man's  salvation.  The  Father 
pitied  our  case,  and  gave  his  Son,  and  sends  his  Spirit. 
The  Son  loved  us,  came  and  died  for  us,  is  ascended 
up  on  high  to  plead  for  us,  and  unites  with  the  Father 
in  sending  the  Spirit.     The  Holy  Ghost  loved  us,  in- 

(136) 


THE  GRACE  OF  FATHER,  SON,  AND  SPIRIT.        137 

spired  the  prophets  to  speak  and  write  as  they  did, 
dwelt  abundantly  in  the  man  Christ  Jesus,  and  illumi- 
nates, regenerates,  sanctifies  and  comforts  all  the  peo- 
ple of  God.  So  that  while  the  phrase  "  grace  of  God" 
has  at  times,  no  doubt,  special  reference  to  the  kindness 
of  the  Father  it  yet  appropriately  expresses  the  mercy 
and  favour  of  the  entire  Godhead.  The  Bible  no  where 
represents  to  us  a  Trinity  divided  in  counsels,  in  pur- 
poses, in  works,  in  being  or  in  glory.  Creation,  pro- 
vidence and  redemption  are  the  works  of  all  united. 
In  all  of  these  each  person  has  equal  and  undivided 
honours.  The  death  of  the  man  Christ  Jesus,  was  the 
fruit  and  not  the  cause  of  the  love  of  the  Father,  and 
of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Spirit  towards  our  race.  The 
first  and  third  persons  of  the  Trinity  are  as  compassion- 
ate and  loving  as  is  the  second.  The  love  of  Father, 
Son  and  Holy  Ghost  is  shown  in  Christ  Jesus,  being 
the  way,  the  truth  and  the  life.  Yet  nothing  here  said 
is  designed  to  diminish  our  love  for  Christ,  but  on  the 
contrary  to  heighten  it.  His  grace  is  indeed  an  ex- 
pression of  the  unfailing  good  will  of  the  Creator  of  the 
ends  of  the  earth.  To  them  who  believe  Christ  is  precious. 
Calvin  well  says  "  Since  we  see  that  the  whole  of  our 
salvation,  and  all  the  branches  of  it,  are  comprehen- 
ded in  Christ,  we  must  be  cautious  not  to  alienate  from 
him  the  least  possible  portion  of  it.  If  we  seek  sal- 
vation, we  are  taught  by  the  name  of  JESUS  that  it 
is  in  him ;  if  we  seek  any  other  gifts  of  the  Spirit, 
they  are  found  in  his  unction ;  strength,  in  his  domi- 
nion ;  purity,  in  his  conception ;  indulgence  discovers 
itself  in  his  nativity ;  by  which  he  was  made  to  resem 
ble  us  in  all  things,  that  he  might  learn  to  condole  with 
us.  If  we  seek  redemption,  it  will  be  found  in  his  pas- 
12* 


138        THE  GRACE  OF  FATHER,  SON,  AND  SPIRIT. 

eion  ;  absolution,  in  his  condemnation ;  remission  of 
the  curse,  in  his  cross ;  sanctification,  in  his  sacrifice ; 
purification,  in  his  blood ;  reconciliation,  in  his  descent 
into  hell ;  mortification  of  the  flesh,  in  his  sepulchre ; 
newness  of  life  and  immortality,  in  his  resurrection  ; 
the  inheritance  of  the  celestial  kingdom,  in  his  en- 
trance into  heaven ;  protection,  security,  abundance 
and  enjoyment  of  all  blessings,  in  his  kingdom ;  a 
fearless  expectation  of  the  judgment,  in  the  judicial 
authority  committed  to  him.  Finally,  blessings  of  every 
kind  are  deposited  in  him ;  let  us  draw  from  his  trea- 
sury and  from  no  other  source,  till  our  desires  are  satis- 
fied ;  for  they  who,  not  content  with  him  alone,  are 
driven  hither  and  thither  into  a  variety  of  hopes, 
although  they  fix  their  eyes  principally  on  him,  never- 
theless deviate  from  the  right  way  in  the  diversion  of 
any  part  of  their  attention  to  another  quarter.  This 
distrust  however  cannot  intrude  where  the  plenitude 
of  his  blessings  hath  once  been  truly  known."  Nor  is 
it  necessary  to  be  continually  on  our  guard  lest  by 
giving  divine  honours  to  one  we  should  offend  the  other 
persons  of  the  Trinity.  He  who  honours  the  Son, 
honours  the  Father.  God  is  one,  though  subsisting  in 
three  persons.  Worship  offered  to  one  person  of  the 
Godhead  with  the  intention  of  slighting  the  others 
would  indeed  be  an  abomination.  But  a  heart  full  of 
love  to  the  Father  for  giving  his  Son,  will  be  sure  to 
love  the  Son,  who  came,  and  the  Spirit  who  anointed 
him. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


NO  SALVATION  BUT  BY  A  REDEEMER,  AND  NO  REDEEMER 
BUT  CHRIST. 

The  Lord  is  a  holy  God.  He  hates  all  sin,  yea,  he 
abhors  it.  His  aversion  to  it  is  infinite.  Moreover, 
he  is  a  Lawgiver  and  Governor.  In  this  respect  his 
character  must  be  maintained.  God  cannot  deny  him- 
self. He  cannot  deny  his  right  to  rule.  He  cannot 
permit  transgression  in  his  dominions  to  go  unpunished. 
He  cannot  but  justify  the  righteous,  and  condemn  the 
wicked.  When  man  sinned  he  fell  under  the  wrath 
of  God,  the  indignation  of  the  King  Eternal.  His 
ruin  was  entire.  What  was  to  be  done  in  his  case  ? 
The  following  are  the  only  courses,  which  can  be  con- 
ceived of. 

1.  God  had  power  and  authority,  if  he  had  seen  fit, 
to  annihilate  the  human  race.  But  to  this  course  the 
objections  are  numerous  and  insurmountable.  Dread- 
ful as  is  annihilation,  it  has  never  been  shown  to  be 
an  adequate  punishment  for  sin.  So  far  as  we  know, 
God  never  has  annihilated,  and  never  will  annihilate 
anything,  which  he  has  made.  Even  the  fires  of  the 
last  day  will  but  change  and  not  destroy  the  elements 
on  which  they  will  kindle.  Had  God  extinguished  our 
race,  he  would  have  left  this  lower  world  without  an 
intelligent  head.  In  that  case  no  reasonable  service, 
no  song  of  thanksgiving  could  ever  have  been  rendered 

(139) 


140 

to  the  Maker  of  heaven  and  earth  by  any  inhabitant 
of  our  globe.  Besides,  who  is  the  Lord,  that  he  should 
repent  ?  Having  begun  to  build  he  was  able  to  finish, 
and  he  determined  to  prove  that  he  was  neither  dis- 
appointed nor  baffled. 

2.  A  second  course,  conceivable  in  our  case  was  that 
Jehovah  should  without  delay  and  without  mercy  con- 
sign the  entire  human  family  to  hopeless,  endless  mi- 
sery. This  would  have  been  just,  gloriously  just  and 
right.  Our  elder  brethren,  the  sinning  angels,  had 
received  this  doom,  and  all  heaven  had  pronounced 
their  sentence  righteous.  But  had  this  been  done  in 
the  case  of  man,  not  an  individual  of  our  entire  race 
of  intelligent  beings  would  have  remained  a  worship- 
per of  the  God  who  made  us ;  nor  would  earth  have 
ever  resounded  with  a  single  hosanna.  Like  hell  our 
globe  would  have  sent  up  only  wailings,  howlings,  blas- 
phemies, and  the  smoke  of  its  torment  for  ever  and 
ever.  Men  would  have  been  awful  monuments  of  in- 
exorable justice ;  but  none  of  them  would  have  ever 
illustrated  God's  long-suifering,  or  his  loving-kindness. 
Yet  the  justice  of  such  a  doom  being  absolute,  sentence 
of  eternal  banishment  pronounced  against  the  entire 
race  would  have  wronged  no  one,  and,  being  what  had 
before  fallen  on  rebel  angels,  could  hardly  have  sur- 
prised any  one. 

3.  The  third  conceivable  course  for  God  to  pursue 
was  entirely  to  overlook  man's  sin,  connive  at  his 
rebellion,  and  take  him  into  the  divine  embrace,  though 
steeped  in  guilt  and  reeking  in  pollution.  This  is  con- 
ceivable, but  not  admissible.  For  then  the  universe 
would  have  seen  the  divine  government  trampled  on, 
and  that  with  impunity,  the  eternal  law  broken,  and 


AND  NO  REDEEMER  BUT  CHRIST.       141 

the  Lawgiver  consenting  to  such  rebellion.  This 
course  must  have  not  only  shaken  but  destroyed  all 
confidence  in  the  rectitude  of  the  divine  character.  In 
that  case  the  government  of  the  universe  must  have 
been  dissolved,  and  war  and  anarchy  and  rebellion 
have  reigned  and  rioted  for  ever.  Seriously  to  sup- 
pose that  God  should  ever  consent  to  let  sin  pass  un- 
noticed is  to  conceive  blasphemy. 

4.  The  last  conceivable  course  to  be  pursued  in 
man's  case  was  to  adopt  some  method,  by  which  to 
satisfy  the  demands  of  law,  and  yet  save  the  sinner ; 
maintain  the  glory  of  divine  justice,  and  yet  rescue  the 
criminal  offender.  What  that  method  of  deliverance 
should  be  no  creature  could  tell.  Sin  had  wrought 
such  mischief,  and  was  in  its  nature  so  deadly  and  ma- 
lignant, that  God  himself  is  in  Scripture  represented 
as  wondering  that  none  could  provide  a  remedy.  Our 
case  is  well  described  by  Jehovah :  "  When  I  passed 
by  thee,  and  looked  upon  thee,  behold  thy  time  was 
the  time  of  love  ;  and  I  spread  my  skirt  over  thee, 
and  covered  thy  nakedness  ;  yea,  I  sware  unto  thee, 
and  entered  into  a  covenant  with  thee,  saith  the  Lord 
God."  A  ransom,  a  Mediator  were  spoken  of,  but 
where  a  sufficient  Saviour  could  be  found,  no  man,  no 
angel  could  tell.  Who  could  pay  a  full,  an  adequate 
redemption  price  ?  The  law  violated  and  dishonoured 
bv  transgression,  the  law  to  be  satisfied  and  magnified 
in  man's  recovery  was  glorious  in  holiness,  absolutely 
incapable  of  amendment,  and  infinitely  perfect.  It 
was  suited  and  intended  to  be  universal,  binding  every 
rational  creature  to  all  eternity.  The  only  perfectly 
happy  society  that  ever  existed  was  a  community 
wholly  conformed  to  its  precepts.     The  only  absolutely 


142  NO  SALVATION  BUT  BY  A  REDEEMER, 

miserable  and  intolerable  state  of  personal  or  social 
existence  ever  known  was  where  all  the  precepts  of 
this  law  were  constantly  broken.  How  could  repara- 
tion be  made  to  such  a  government  violated  ?  How 
could  a  ransom  be  provided  for  such  transgressors  ? 

Suppose  man  should  offer  to  God  all  the  products 
of  the  earth,  all  its  grain  and  all  its  mines,  all  its 
fruits  and  all  its  cattle.  At  the  very  best,  man  could 
offer  but  some  of  these,  for  he  must  use  a  part  in  order 
to  subsist.  The  residue  he  might  indeed  offer.  But 
if  men  come  with  any  decent  regard  to  truth  in  making 
such  offerings  they  would  say  as  David  of  old  :  "  Who 
am  I,  and  what  is  my  people,  that  we  should  be  able 
to  offer  so  willingly  after  this  sort  ?  for  all  things  come 
of  thee,  and  of  thine  own  have  we  given  thee."  1  Chron. 
xxix.  14.  A  company  of  beggars  in  going  to  ask  alms 
of  a  rich  man  might  drive  up  his  flocks  and  his  herds 
to  stand  before  him,  or  might  bring  the  fruits  of  his 
fields  and  lay  them  at  his  feet,  but  these  were  all  his 
before  they  brought  them  before  him,  and  so  could  not 
purchase  anything  from  him.  So  God  says,  "the 
earth  is  mine  and  the  cattle  upon  a  thousand  hills." 
The  gifts  we  can  bring  from  the  store -house  of  nature 
all  belong  to  God  already,  and  so  can  make  no  atone- 
ment, can  be  no  price-  which  he  will  accept  as  from  us. 

A  citizen  of  a  free  and  sovereign  State  lawfully  gets 
into  his  possession  five  millions  of  her  funds,  and  then 
not  only  embezzles  the  whole  amount,  but  also  com- 
mits treason  and  is  arrested  and  brought  to  trial.  He 
proposes  to  arrest  all  legal  proceedings  by  delivering 
up  all  the  money  except  one  thousand  dollars,  which 
sum  he  has  spent,  and  has  nothing  besides.  Can  the 
government  accede  to  his  proposal?     It  may  be  in 


AND  NO  REDEEMER  BUT  CHRIST.      143 

great  straits  for  funds,  it  may  see  no  way  of  escaping 
bankruptcy  unless  it  can  recover  the  sum  lost  or  near 
that  amount ;  it  may  see  that  without  the  consent  of 
the  guilty  man  it  can  recover  nothing.  Under  these 
circumstances  it  may  accept  his  offer,  but  when  it 
does,  it  clearly  admits  its  own  weakness  and  imper- 
fection. It  declares  that  there  are  cases  of  atrocious 
crime  and  novel  difficulty,  where  it  cannot  bring  the 
law  to  bear,  except  by  sustaining  a  loss  too  great  for 
its  own  resources.  The  divine  government  could  never 
accede  to  such  a  compounding  of  crime.  It  would  tar- 
nish all  its  glory.  It  can  bring  every  offender  to  jus- 
tice. It  holds  all  the  wicked  in  the  grasp  of  its  om- 
nipotence. It  knows  all  their  secrets,  all  their  accom- 
plices, all  their  hiding-places.  It  is  never  in  straits. 
To  allow  men  to  redeem  themselves  by  silver  and  gold 
or  the  fruits  of  the  earth  would  have  been  a  mockery 
of  all  justice. 

Nor  could  bloody  sacrifices  of  animals  have  been  a 
ransom.  As  property  the  animals  slain  belonged  to 
God  already :  and  as  sacrifices  they  never  did  nor 
could  have  any  efficacy  in  setting  aside  the  penalty  of 
the  moral  law.  They  never  were  at  all  acceptable  to 
God  except  as  appointed  by  himself  to  be  the  types  of 
the  sacrifice  of  his  Son.  Viewed  in  any  other  light, 
"  he,  that  killeth  an  ox,  is  as  if  he  slew  a  man ;  he, 
that  sacrificeth  a  lamb,  as  if  he  cut  off  a  dog's  neck ; 
he,  that  offereth  an  oblation,  as  if  he  offered  swine's 
blood;  he,  that  burneth  incense,  as  if  he  blessed  an 
idol."  Isa.  lxvi.  3.  So  that  it  was  impossible  to  make 
satisfaction  in  this  way. 

Nor  could  man  by  voluntary  suffering,  self-inflicted, 
work  out  his   own  redemption.     He  cannot  do   this 


144  NO  SALVATION  BUT  BY  A  REDEEMER, 

when  he  has  offended  a  merely  human  government. 
The  murderer  found  guilty  and  sentenced  to  death  is 
never  permitted  by  total  or  partial  fasting,  by  sighing 
and  groaning,  by  beating  himself  with  rods,  or  tearing 
himself  with  pincers  to  set  aside  the  penalty  of  the 
law.  The  reason  is  that  all  these  sufferings  do  not 
satisfy  the  law.  They  are  not  the  penalty  provided. 
So  under  the  government  of  God  voluntary  humility 
and  dishonouring  of  the  body,  though  in  the  eyes  of 
the  simple  they  have  a  show  of  wisdom,  can  never  re- 
deem a  soul,  can  never  satisfy  God's  law. 

Nor  can  present  or  future  reformation  atone  for  past 
sins.  The  very  best  obedience,  which  can  possibly  be 
rendered,  is  due,  always  was  due,  always  will  be  due 
to  God.  He,  who  owes  a  thousand  pounds,  cannot 
discharge  that  debt  by  being  careful  to  contract  no 
new  obligations  with  the  same  house.  A  man  may 
have  lived  a  blameless  life  for  half  a  century.  He 
may  then  commit  murder,  and  if  it  is  proven  on  him, 
he  cannot  plead  his  former  good  conduct,  nor  give  the 
amplest  security  for  future  good  behaviour,  in  order  to 
set  aside  the  penalty  incurred  by  murder.  Under 
God's  government  all  our  obedience  is  God's  right,  and 
to  give  him  his  right  at  one  time  cannot  redeem  us 
from  the  guilt  of  transgression  at  another. 

Nor  can  one  man  redeem  another.  All  men  are 
guilty  and  have  forfeited  their  lives  by  their  own  sins. 
When  two  pirates  are  condemned  to  death,  one  of 
them  cannot  die  for  the  other,  for  the  reason  that  he. 
has  to  die  for  himself.  Two  manslayers  are  sentenced 
for  life  to  close  prison.  One  cannot  take  the  place  of 
the  other,  and  so  let  him  go  free.     Redemption,  there- 


AND  NO  REDEEMER  BUT  CHRIST.       145 

fore,  by  any  human  means  or  merits  was  absolutely 
out  of  the  question. 

Nor  could  angels  atone  for  men.  Of  course  the  suf- 
ferings of  fallen  angels,  though  they  are  the  pains  of 
hell,  being  due  for  their  own  transgressions,  could  be 
no  ransom  for  us.  Nor  could  holy  angels  make  atone- 
ment or  bring  in  righteousness  for  others.  All  the 
obedience  they  can  render  is  due  for  themselves.  They 
could  therefore  never  supererogate.  They  can  have 
no  surplus  of  merit  beyond  their  own  wants.  Nor 
could  they  by  suffering  ever  exhaust  the  penalty  due 
for  man's  sins.  An  angel  is  finite.  The  law  violated 
and  the  justice  offended  are  infinite.  Sin  is  therefore 
an  infinite  evil.  In  an  angel  an  eternity  of  suffering 
would  be  necessary  to  redeem  one  man  from  hell.  The 
sin  of  even  one  man  would,  if  imputed  to  an  angel, 
send  him  to  prison  for  ever.  Had  his  mediation  been 
admitted,  where  would  have  been  the  gain  in  the  hap- 
piness of  the  universe  ?  Then  too  a  sinner  pardoned 
would  have  been  bound  for  ever  to  ascribe  his  redemp- 
tion not  only  to  a  mere  creature,  but  to  that  creature 
ever  suffering  in  hell  the  penalty  due  to  the  ransomed 
spirit,  whose  substitute  he  had  become.  In  this  way 
no  end  would  ever  be  made  of  transgression.  The  suf- 
fering substitute  could  never  rise  triumphant  and  say, 
"It  is  finished."  And  the  redeemed  would  have 
praised  in  the  highest  notes  and  with  the  deepest  sense 
of  obligation  their  deliverer,  and  that  deliverer  would 
have  still  been  enduring  the  penalty.  Such  would 
have  been  the  confusion,  disorder,  and  idolatry  of  ad- 
mitting an  angel  or  angels  to  undertake  the  work  of 
redemption. 

Besides,  any  holy  angel  must  have  been  for  ever 
13 


14G  NO  SALVATION  BUT  BY  A  REDEEMER, 

unfit  for  the  work  of  mediation,  as  he  is  not  able  as  a 
days-man  to  lay  his  hand  upon  both  God  and  man. 
The  highest  created  angel  is  infinitely  inferior  to  God. 
For  him  to  claim  equality  with  God  would  have  been 
robbery  indeed.  He  never  could  have  appeared  be- 
fore God  with  authority,  asserting  a  right  to  dominion 
over  any  part  of  his  works.  He  never  could  have  been 
admitted  into  the  counsels  of  eternity.  He  would 
have  been  looked  upon  with  a  righteous  jealousy  by 
God  himself  as  a  rival  in  his  kingdom  and  for  his 
throne.  His  intercessions  must  therefore  have  failed. 
He  never  could  have  said,  "  Father,  I  will,"  without 
great  presumption. 

Nor  could  any  holy  angel  ever  have  sympathized 
with  man,  either  as  a  sufferer  or  as  a  sinner,  to  such  an 
extent  as  would  have  fitted  him  to  be  a  Redeemer. 
Angels  know  not  what  suffering  is.  In  their  natures 
they  are  quite  ignorant  of  what  are  the  real  feelings 
of  men.  They  know  nothing  by  experience  of  the 
natural  affections  of  men.  They  understand  not  the 
hard  pressure  of  poverty,  or  shame.  Being  holy  and 
yet  finite  in  their  compassions,  no  one  of  them  could 
endure  the  recital  of  our  offences  without  utter  dislike 
to  our  persons.  Before  he  had  learned  half  of  the 
details  and  aggravating  circumstances  of  any  one's 
crimes,  he  would  have  turned  away  with  unspeakable 
loathing  from  the  shocking  tale  of  human  guilt.  He 
would  have  said,  "  Such  a  sinner  ought  to  perish — 
must  perish — I  can  have  no  sympathy  with  him."  It 
is  indeed  well  for  us  that  our  salvation  does  not  depend 
on  the  mercies  of  an  angel.  If  it  did,  our  doom  would 
soon  be  sealed.  The  reason  is  that  our  case  requires 
a  height,  a  depth,  a  length  and  a  breadth  of  compas- 


AND   NO   REDEEMER   BUT   CHRIST.  147 

sion  and  grace  to  be  found  in  but  one  being  in  the 
universe.  "It  is  of  the  Lord's  mercies,"  yes,  "it  is 
of  the  Lord's  mercies  that  we  are  not  consumed." 

Nor  upon  any  admissible  supposition  could  one  angel 
have  redeemed  many  souls.  Had  one  of  them  become 
a  mediator,  he  could  not  have  saved  any  considerable 
number  of  the  human  family.  So  that  still  nearly  all 
the  inhabitants  of  earth  must  have  perished,  or  there 
must  have  been  millions  of  redeemers,  and  consequently 
as  many  different  objects,  to  whom  loud  praises  and 
eternal  thanks  should  have  been  rendered.  And  as 
redemption  is  a  greater  blessing  than  creation,  each 
person  thus  saved  would  for  ever  have  felt  himself 
more  indebted  to  a  creature  than  to  the  Creator,  inas- 
much as  the  deliverer  of  each  one  would  in  the  case 
supposed  have  been  a  creature.  Such  are  some  of  the 
monstrous  results,  to  which  the  admission  of  a  finite 
mediator  would  have  led.  So  that  we  are  shut  up  to 
the  admission  that  no  finite  being  could  ever  fitly  or 
successfully  have  undertaken  our  cause.  None  of  these 
difficulties  lie  in  the  way  of  Christ's  mediation.  Nor 
could  there  be  any  objection  to  his  undertaking  our 
cause,  unless  it  were  one  of  the  following,  viz : 

1.  That  God  was  unwilling  to  admit  any  interposi- 
tion in  our  behalf.  Such  unwillingness  would  have 
operated  no  injustice  to  us.  Our  mouths  must  have 
been  for  ever  stopped,  if  he  had  treated  us  as  he 
treated  rebel  angels.  But  God,  ever  blessed  be  his 
name,  pitied  us,  and  was  willing  to  save  us.  He  re- 
joiced to  send  his  Son.  He  delivered  him  up  freely. 
He  so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave  him  not  grudg- 
ingly,  nor  reluctantly,   but  freely  and.  benignantly. 


148     NO  SALVATION  BUT  BY  A  REDEEMER, 

God,  therefore,   as  the   offended  Lawgiver,  made  no 
objection  to  Christ's  mediation. 

2.  Or  it  would  have  been  a  valid  objection  to  Christ's 
mediation,  if  he  himself  had  been  unwilling  to  become 
our  surety.  For  eternal  justice  to  have  seized  upon 
any  innocent  victim  and  led  him  forth  a  reluctant  suf- 
ferer in  the  room  and  stead  of  others  would  have  been 
a  procedure,  which  we  could  never  justify.  The  Spirit 
of  God,  knowing  how  this  point  would  come  up  before 
our  minds,  has  mercifully  and  completely  relieved  all 
our  apprehensions  on  the  subject.  By  the  Psalmist 
he  declares  in  the  name  of  Christ,  "  Lo,  I  come,  I  de- 
light to  do  thy  will,  0  my  God."  And  in  the  Gospel 
we  are  informed  by  Christ  himself  that  his  sufferings 
were  voluntary.  His  words  are  :  "I  lay  down  my 
life  that  I  might  take  it  again.  No  man  taketh  it 
from  me,  but  I  lay  it  down  of  myself.  I  have  power 
to  lay  it  down,  and  I  have  power  to  take  it  again." 
John  x.  17, 18.  If  in  any  sense  Christ  was  constrained 
to  suffer  for  us,  it  was  only  by  his  amazing  love  and 
mercy  to  the  lost. 

3.  Or  if  the  satisfaction  rendered,  or  to  be  rendered, 
had  fallen  short  of  what  might  justly  have  been  re- 
quired by  the  law  of  God,  or  by  the  good  of  his  domin- 
ions, this  would  have  been  an  objection  to  Christ's 
mediation.  If  Christ's  interposition  was  in  any  way 
to  diminish  the  due  force  of  law,  or  the  just  power  of 
government  in  any  province  of  God's  empire;  if,  in 
short,  it  could  be  fairly  construed  as  a  relaxation  of 
moral  obligation,  a  concession  to  iniquity,  then  indeed 
there  Avould  have  been  a  valid  objection  to  Christ's 
undertaking.  "  But  the  Son  of  God  gave  for  man's  re- 
demption as  heavy  a  ransom  as  justice,  law,  the  con- 


AND  NO  REDEEMER  BUT  CHRIST.      149 

science  of  man,  the  judgment  of  angels,  or  the  infinite 
holiness  of  God  demanded.  He  paid  the  full  price. 
He  drank  the  cup  of  bitterness  even  to  the  dregs 
thereof.  He  magnified  the  law  and  made  it  honour- 
able. God's  abhorrence  of  sin  is  more  clearly  ex- 
pressed in  the  cross  of  Christ,  than  in  the  flames  of 
hell.  Even  the  most  tender  and  enlightened  con- 
science of  the  most  guilty  man  says  of  Christ's  satis- 
faction, whenever  it  is  divinely  revealed,  "This  is 
enough — I  ask  no  more — I  end  my  quest  of  atonement 
here." 

13* 


CHAPTER    XX. 

THE    CONSTITUTION    OF    CHRIST'S    PERSON. — HIS    GRACE 
THEREIN. 

Nothing  in  the  Christian  religion  has  been  the  sub- 
ject of  so  much  error  as  the  person  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  Some  have  denied  that  he  was  God.  Some 
have  said  that  he  was  a  created  God.  Some  have 
denied  that  he  had  a  true  body,  and  some  that  he  had 
a  reasonable  created  soul.  Some  have  held  that  he  had 
two  persons,  and  some  that  one  of  his  natures  absorbed 
the  other.  The  apostles  were  not  all  dead  when  Ebion 
and  Cerinthus  denied  our  Lord's  divinity.  To  coun- 
teract their  dangerous  opinions  John  wrote  his  Gospel. 
Their  error  was  revived,  though  in  a  form  somewhat 
varied,  by  Arius  and  his  followers  in  the  fourth  cen- 
tury, by  the  Socinians  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and 
by  still  more  modern  Unitarians.  Most  of  these  per- 
haps have  held  simply  to  Christ's  humanity. 

Some,  however,  have  spoken  of  our  Lord  as  a  created 
God.  Duly  considered,  this  must  appear  absurd. 
The  greatest  gulf  in  the  universe  is  that  which  sepa- 
rates the  finite  from  the  infinite,  the  creature  from  the 
Creator.  A  God,  not  self-existent,  eternal,  indepen- 
dent and  unchangeable,  is  no  God.  He,  who  has  these 
attributes,  is  the  supreme  God.  The  Manichseans  denied 
that  Christ  had  a  true  body.  Consistency  compelled 
them  to  deny  his  death.  Others  have  held  that  the 
(150) 


THE   CONSTITUTION   OF    CHRIST'S    PERSON.        151 

Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost  were  one  person,  became 
incarnate  and  suffered  on  the  cross.  Indeed  the  forms 
of  error  on  this  whole  subject  have  been  almost  count- 
less. The  enmity  of  the  human  heart  against  God  has 
brought  all  its  strength,  violence  and  ingenuity  to 
destroy  the  corner-stone,  or  to  remove  it  out  of  our 
sight.     What  then  is  the  truth  on  this  subject  ? 

I.  Jesus  Christ  had  and  has  a  divine  nature.  He 
was  truly  God.  He  is  expressly  called  "  God,"  "  God 
and  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,"  "  The  great  God  and 
our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,"  "the  Lord  their  God," 
"the  true  God  and  eternal  life,"  "Emmanuel,  God 
with  us,"  "Jehovah,"  "Lord  of  hosts,"  "Lord  of 
lords,"  "King  of  kings,"  "the  mighty  God,"  "the 
everlasting  Father."  That  he  existed  before  his  incar- 
nation it  requires  great  boldness  to  deny.  He  often 
asserts  this  truth.  "Before  Abraham  was  I  am." 
"  And  now,  0  Father,  glorify  thou  me  with  thine  own 
self  with  the  glory  which  I  had  with  thee  before  the 
world  was."  "  I  came  down  from  heaven."  "What 
if  ye  shall  see  the  Son  of  man  ascend  up  where  he  was 
before."  John  vi.  38,  62 ;  viii.  58 ;  xvii.  5.  Paul 
says:  "He  is  before  all  things."  Col.  i.  17.  These 
texts  clearly  prove  two  things :  1.  that  Christ  existed 
before  he  was  born  in  the  days  of  Herod.  But  as  his 
human  nature  then  had  its  beginning,  it  must  have 
been  in  some  other  nature  that  he  was  before  Abraham, 
and  had  glory  with  the  Father  before  the  world  was ; 
and  2.  that  if  he  was  before  all  things,  he  had  an  un- 
caused existence,  and  so  was  God. 

Christ  was  also  the  Creator  of  all  things.  "All 
things  were  made  by  him,  and  without  him  was  not 
anything  made  that  was  made."     John  i.  3.     "  Thou, 


152       THE   CONSTITUTION    OF   CHRIST'S    PERSON. 

Lord,  in  the  beginning  hast  laid  the  foundations  of  the 
earth,  and  the  heavens  are  the  work  of  thy  hands." 
Heb.  i.  10.  The  Maker  of  all  things,  of  the  heaven 
and  of  the  earth,  is  God.  There  is  none  above  him, 
none  more  worthy  of  love  and  fear.  Paul  says,  that 
he,  "  being  in  the  form  of  God,  thought  it  not  robbery 
to  be  equal  with  God."  Phil.  ii.  6.  The  only  thing 
which  could  hinder  such  a  claim  from  being  the  most 
daring  robbery  was  that  it  was  well  founded,  and  that 
he  was  God.  In  Rev.  i.  8,  he  gives  this  account  of 
himself:  "  I  am  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  beginning  and 
the  ending,  saith  the  Lord,  which  is,  and  which  was,  and 
which  is  to  come,  the  Almighty."  Is  not  that  being 
God? 

In  1  Tim.  iii.  16,  Paul  says,  "  God  was  manifest  in 
the  flesh."  But  God  was  not  manifest  in  the  flesh, 
unless  he  was  there  in  the  person  of  him  who  took 
our  flesh.  If  any  should  say  that  the  meaning  simply 
is  that  virtue,  which  is  conformity  to  God,  was  manifest 
in  the  flesh  of  Christ,  the  reply  is  at  hand ;  1.  There 
is  not  a  word  said  about  virtue  in  the  text  or  context. 
The  words  are  "  God  was  manifest ;"  2.  Where  would 
be  the  propriety  of  calling  virtue  a  great  mystery  ? 
Paul  says,  "  Great  is  the  mystery  of  godliness.  God 
was  manifest,"  &c.  3.  This  interpretation  ill  suits  the 
residue  of  the  passage  :  "  He  was  justified  in  the  Spirit, 
seen  of  angels,  preached  unto  the  gentiles,  believed  on 
in  the  world,  received  up  into  glory." 

To  Christ  belongs  also  the  work  of  universal  provi- 
dence. "  By  him  all  things  consist,"  and  "he  uphold- 
eth  all  things  by  the  word  of  his  power."  Col.  i.  17. 
Heb.  i.  3.  Can  it  be  possible  that  a  mere  creature 
can  do  such  things  ?     What  can  Jehovah  do  in  provi- 


HIS   GRACE   THEREIN.  153 

clence  to  evince  his  proper  divinity  more  than  to  uphold 
all  things  by  his  powerful  word  ? 

Christ  is  also  omniscient.  He  knows  what  is  in  man. 
John  ii.  24,  25.  He  searches  the  heart  and  tries  the 
reins.  Rev.  ii.  23.  In  short,  let  any  man  prove  by 
any  scriptural  course  of  argument  the  divinity  of  the 
Father,  and  by  the  same  process  can  we  establish  the 
divinity  of  the  Son.  Is  the  Father  almighty  and  so 
divine  ?  So  is  the  Son,  Rev.  i.  8.  Is  it  a  prerogative 
of  the  supreme  God  to  forgive  sins  ?  Jesus  Christ  for- 
gives sins.  Matt.  ix.  2 — 6.  Is  the  supreme  God 
every  where  present  ?  So  is  Christ.  "Lo,  I  am  with 
you  always,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world."  "  Where 
two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in  my  name  there 
am  I  in  the  midst  of  them."  Matt,  xviii.  20 ;  xxviii. 
20.  If  the  divinity  and  supremacy  of  Jehovah  were 
proven  by  the  miracles  in  Egypt  and  the  wilderness, 
the  divinity  and  supremacy  of  Christ  were  proven  by 
the  miracles  in  Palestine.  They  were  many ;  (John 
xxi.  25,)  were  wrought  for  his  own  glory;  (Johnii.  11,) 
were  of  a  stupendous  nature ;  (John  ix.  30 — 33,)  and 
were  all  wrought  in  his  own  name,  and  not  in  the  name 
of  some  other  person.  See  every  account.  Is  the 
Father  worshipped  by  all  the  holy  angels  ?  So  is  the 
Son.  "  When  he  bringeth  the  first-begotten  into  the 
world,  he  saith,  And  let  all  the  angels  of  God  worship 
him."  Heb.  i.  5.  Did  David  devoutly  say  of  Jeho- 
vah, "Thou  art  my  God?"  Thomas  addressed  Jesus, 
saying,  "  My  Lord  and  my  God."  John  xx.  28.  Is 
the  Father  now  worshipped  in  heaven  ?  So  is  the  Son. 
Rev-,  v.  12 — 14.  So  that  Jesus  Christ  is  in  his  pre- 
existent  nature  God,  the  true  God,  equal  with  the 
Father.     Our  Saviour  is  truly  divine. 


154       THE    CONSTITUTION    OF   CHRIST'S    PERSON. 

II.  Christ  is  as  to  his  created  nature  truly  and 
properly  a  man.  He  had  entire  humanity,  as  fully  as 
Moses,  Paul,  or  any  other  man.  In  proof  inspired 
writers  call  him  a  man.  "  A  man  shall  he  as  an  hiding- 
place,"  "A  man  approved  of  God,"  UA  man  of  sor- 
rows," "  There  is  one  God  and  one  Mediator,  the  man 
Christ  Jesus."  He  is  often  called  the  Son  of  Man. 
This  phrase  teaches  his  humanity.  Thus  we  read: 
"  The  Son  of  Man  hath  power  to  forgive  sins,"  "  The 
Son  of  Man  is  Lord  even  of  the  Sabbath-day,"  "  Now 
is  the  Son  of  Man  glorified."  The  objection  of  some 
that  he  was  not  truly  a  man,  because  he  had  no  father 
according  to  the  flesh  is  of  no  force,  for  1.  he  derived 
his  human  nature  from  his  mother,  and  was  made  of 
her  substance  as  much  as  any  child  derives  its  nature 
from  its  parents.  2.  If  it  is  essential  to  humanity 
entire  and  complete,  that  it  be  derived  from  a  pair, 
then  Eve,  the  mother  of  all  living,  was  not  a  human 
being,  for  she  derived  her  nature  through  Adam  alone. 
3.  By  parity  of  reasoning,  yea,  by  still  stronger  rea  son- 
ing,  Adam  was  not  a  human  being,  for  he  had  neither 
father  nor  mother.  Such  are  some  of  the  conclusions 
to  which  this  objection  would  lead  us. 

Christ's  humanity  is  also  proved  by  many  plain 
texts  of  Scripture.  "  He  was  made  in  the  likeness  of 
men,"  "He  was  found  in  fashion  as  a  man,"  "His 
visage  was  so  marred  more  than  any  man.''  He  had 
eyes,  and  saw  the  beauties  of  nature,  even  of  the  lilies 
of  the  field.  He  had  ears,  and  heard  the  words  of 
friends  and  of  foes.  He  had  all  the  senses  of  a  man. 
He  ate,  he  drank,  he  slept,  he  awaked,  he  walked,  he 
rested,  he  was  weary,  he  was  hungry,  was  thirsty,  he 
was  handled,  was  bound,  was  scourged,  was  smitten, 


HIS   GRACE   THEREIN.  155 

■was  spit  upon,  was  crowned  with  thorns,  and  crucified. 
He  was  born,  he  wept,  he  bled,  he  died,  he  was  dead. 
Prophecy  promised  him  a  body  ;  (Heb.  x.  5,  and  Psal. 
xl.  6 — 8,)  and  Providence  gave  him  a  body. 

Jesus  Christ  had  a  soul  also,  a  human  soul,  a  true 
rational  soul.  The  proof  is  that  he  had  sentiments  of 
joy  and  sorrow,  of  indignation  and  grief,  of  compas- 
sion and  pity,  of  hope  and  fear.  He  had  the  mental 
trials  and  sorrows  of  men.  "  He  was  tempted  in  all 
points  like  as  we  are."  As  a  son  and  as  a  friend  none 
ever  more  clearly  showed  that  he  had  true  human  affec- 
tions. As  he  had  the  body  and  affections,  so  also  he 
had  the  intellect  of  man.  He  grew  from  infancy  to 
manhood,  not  only  in  stature  but  in  the  strength  and 
scope  of  his  faculties,  as  other  children  do,  except 
that  he  had  better  religious  teaching  than  many,  and 
far  more  abundant  influences  of  the  Spirit  than  all  other 
children.  He  had  the  Spirit  without  measure.  So 
that  his  growth  in  holy  wisdom  was  extraordinary  and 
unparalleled.  That  he  had  a  human  mind  is  as  clear  as 
that  he  had  a  human  body  ;  and  that  he  had  both  is  as 
certain  as  that  any  other  person  ever  had  them.  To 
suppose  the  contrary  is  to  charge  him  with  imposture, 
and  this  is  blasphemy.  If  Christ  were  not  man,  how 
could  he  be  a  descendant  of  Eve  ;  (Gen.  iii.  15,)  or  of 
Abraham  (Gen.  xxii.  18,)  or  of  David,  as  was  often 
promised  ?  or  why  did  Matthew  and  Luke  in  their 
Gospels  give  the  genealogy  of  our  Lord,  if  they  did 
not  intend  to  teach  that  he  derived  his  human  nature 
through  a  long  line  of  ancestors  from  Abraham  and 
from  Adam  ? 

Some  would  lead  us  to  suppose  that  Christ  had  no 
human  soul,  but  that  he  merely  had  a  human  body, 


156       THE   CONSTITUTION   OF   CHRIST'S   PERSON. 

inhabited  by  his  heavenly  or  pre-existent  nature,  and 
in  proof  they  quote  such  expressions  as  these :  "  God 
•was  manifest  in  the  flesh"  and  "  The  word  was  made 
flesh."  They  contend  that  the  word,  flesh,  includes 
the  body  only.  If  this  is  so,  their  objection  has  force. 
Let  us  see  what  the  truth  is.  Admitting  that  the  pri- 
mary meaning  of  the  word  was  that  of  the  body,  yet 
this  was  far  from  being  its  usual  signification.  By 
flesh  Paul  understands  the  depraved  moral  nature  of 
man :  "  They  that  are  in  the  flesh  cannot  please  God." 
The  word  is  often  applied  to  men,  as  men,  so  that  in 
the  following  cases,  "all  flesh"  simply  means ^'  all 
men  :"  "  All  flesh  had  corrupted  his  way  ;"  "  Unto  thee 
shall  all  flesh  come ;''  "  Let  all  flesh  bless  his  holy 
name  for  ever  and  ever;"  "  All  flesh  shall  see  the  sal- 
vation of  God."  Paul  therefore  intends  to  teach  that 
"  God  was  manifest  in  the"  man,  Christ  Jesus.  John 
in  saying  "  the  Word  was  made  flesh,"  &c,  teaches  that 
the  Word,  which  was  God,  became  man,  not  by  the 
conversion  of  the  divine  into  the  human  nature,  but  by 
uniting  the  two.  Has  it  not  therefore  been  shown  that 
Christ  had  a  true,  proper,  entire  human  nature,  a  true 
body  and  a  reasonable  soul  ? 

III.  The  divine  and  human  natures  of  Christ  are 
united  in  one  person  ;  so  that  it  is  proper  to  speak  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  in  the  singular  number,  and  not  in  the 
plural.  When  we  address  him  we  say,  "  thou,"  and 
not  ye.  When  we  speak  of  him  we  say,  "  he,  his, 
him,"  not  they,  theirs,  them.  When  Christ  spoke  of 
himself,  both  before  and  after  his  death  and  ascension, 
he  said,  "I,  mine,  me,"  not  we,  ours,  us.  There  is 
but  one  Christ.  He  is  a  Lamb,  a  Priest,  a  King,  a 
Shepherd,  a  Saviour,  a  Mediator,  a  Surety.  Though 
he  has  two  natures,  the  human  and  the  divine,  yet  he 


HIS   GRACE   THERETO.  157 

is  but  one  person,  one  Redeemer,  one  Mediator.  His 
human  and  divine  natures  are  distinct,  not  separate ; 
distinguishable,  not  separable. 

His  two  natures  became  one  person,  not  by  his 
human  nature  seeking  to  be  affianced  to  his  divine 
nature,  but  by  his  divine  nature  seeking  union  with  the 
human.  For  the  human  nature  to  have  sought  union 
■with  divinity  would  have  been  blameworthy  ambition. 
For  the  divine  nature  to  seek  union  with  the  human 
was  great  condescension,  unspeakable  love.  Besides, 
Christ's  human  nature  never  existed  separately  from 
the  divine.  The  union  was  formed  at  his  conception 
in  the  womb  of  the  virgin.  The  divine  nature  existed 
separately  from  the  human  nature,  and  prior  to  it,  and 
sought  union  with  it,  and  assumed  it  into  indissoluble 
union.  So  the  Scriptures  do  not  say  that  flesh  was 
made  the  Word,  but  that  "  the  Word  was  made  flesh," 
nor  that  the  flesh  was  made  manifest  in  God,  but  that 
"  God  was  made  manifest  in  the  flesh."  Human  nature 
did  not  assume  divinity ;  but  the  divine  nature  assumed 
humanity.  So  the  Scriptures  say  that  "  being  in  the 
form  of  God,  he  thought  it  not  robbery  to  be  equal 
with  God,  but  made  himself  of  no  reputation,  and  took 
upon  him  the  form  of  a  servant,  and  was  made  in  the 
likeness  of  men."  He  was  first  rich  in  all  the  attri- 
butes and  glories  of  Divinity,  and  by  taking  a  body  he 
became  poor,  for  our  good,  out  of  love  to  us.  Here  is 
indeed  a  wonder,  a  very  marvellous  thing,  but  in  it 
nothing  is  so  marvellous  as  the  love  and  mercy  which  it 
reveals  ;  love  and  mercy  so  great  that  none  but  the 
wicked  reject  them  ;  love  and  mercy  so  great  that  even 
angels  do  not  comprehend  them.  Here  is  the  light  of 
men,  the  life  of  the  world. 
14 


158       TIIE   CONSTITUTION   OF   CHRIST'S   PERSON. 

In  this  union  the  natures  of  Christ  are  not  confused, 
compounded,  or  converted  one  into  the  other,  or  absorbed 
one  by  the  other.     His  body  was  and  is  a  true  human 
body,  not  mixed  with  his  soul  or  divinity,  nor  converted 
into   them,  yet  it  is  for  ever  united  with  both.     His 
human  soul  is  as  truly  a  human  soul  as  that  of  Enoch 
or  Abraham,  and  will  for  ever  so  remain.     It  is  not 
absorbed  by  his   divinity,   nor   mingled  with   it,  but 
united  with  it.     So   that    Christ  is  the  "  God-man," 
possessing  at  once  and  henceforth  for  ever  the  image 
of  the  invisible  God  and  the  likeness  of  men.     Thus  is 
constituted  the  person  of  our  one  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
our  one  Mediator.     This  is  the  Bible  doctrine   on  the 
subject.      His  conception   and  birth  were   miraculous, 
so  that  he  was  born  free  from  the  guilt  and  defilement 
of  original  sin.     Accordingly  Gabriel  said  unto  Mary: 
"that  holy  thing  which  shall  be  born  of  thee,  shall  be 
called  the  Son  of  God."     He  was  and  is  in  his  entire 
nature  holy,  harmless,  undefiled,   and   separate  from 
sinners. 

This  view  of  his  person  gives  us  the  key,  by  which 
to  unlock  the  mystery  of  any  text  of  Scripture  relating 
to  that  subject.  Thus  when  it  is  said,  he  thirsted,  he 
walked,  he  slept,  he  ate,  the  reference  is  to  his  body. 
After  his  resurrection  he  said  "handle  me  and  see,  for 
a  spirit  hath  not  flesh  and  bones  as  ye  see  me  have." 
Surely  he  thus  intended  to  convince  them  of  the  truth 
and  reality  of  his  body.  There  was  no  deception  in 
the  case.  Both  before  his  death  and  after  his  resur- 
rection he  gave  infallible  proof  of  his  having  a  body. 
There  is  no  absurdity  or  contradiction  here.  Corpo- 
really he  did  as  other  men  do. 

Another  class  of  texts  relates  to  his  human  soul. 


HIS   GRACE   THEREIN.  159 

Thus  it  is  said,  "He  rejoiced  in  spirit,"  "he  was 
grieved  for  the  hardness  of  their  hearts,"  "  he  began 
to  be  sorrowful  and  very  heavy."  All  these  are  the 
acts  and  exercises  of  his  reasonable  human  soul,  and 
are  in  themselves  no  more  inscrutable  than  the  same 
things  said  of  any  other  man. 

Sometimes  the  Scriptures  speak  of  his  entire  human 
nature,  soul  and  body,  in  the  same  verse.  Thus : 
"  The  child  grew  and  waxed  strong  in  spirit,  filled  with 
wisdom."  Again:  "Jesus  increased  in  wisdom  and 
stature,  and  in  favour  with  God  and  man."  There  is 
nothing  more  mysterious  in  this  than  if  the  same  had 
been  said  of  any  other  healthy,  pious,  amiable  child. 
Again:  "He  beheld  the  city  and  wept  over  it."  Be- 
holding and  weeping  were  bodily  acts.  But  shedding 
tears,  accompanied  by  his  lament  over  the  city,  showed 
that  his  whole  human  nature,  soul  and  body,  was  united, 
his  soul  being  moved  by  prophetic  visions  and  heavenly 
compassions,  and  his  body  agitated  by  his  thoughts  and 
pure  affections.  This  is  all  plain.  Thus  we  all  speak 
and  weep,  when  we  think  strongly  and  feel  exquisitely. 

Again  we  read,  "  in  the  beginning  was  the  Word, 
and  the  Word  was  with  God,  and  the  Word  was  God. 
All  things  were  made  by  him,  and  without  him  was 
not  anything  made  that  was  made."  This  plainly  and 
clearly  belongs  to  his  divine  nature  alone.  His  human 
nature  was  not  in  the  beginning  with  God,  and  had  no 
part  in  the  work  of  creation. 

But  "the  Word  was  made  flesh  and  dwelt  among  us, 
(and  we  beheld  his  glory,  the  glory  as  of  the  only  be- 
gotten of  the  Father)  full  of  grace  and  truth."  "  God 
was  manifest  in  the  flesh."  Thus  the  person  of  the 
Mediator  was  constituted.     He  was  found  in  fashion 


160      THE   CONSTITUTION   OF   CHRIST'S   PERSON. 

as  a  man.  He  was  made  a  little  lower  than  the  angels. 
He  humbled  himself  and  became  obedient  unto  death. 
It  is  of  himself  as  the  Mediator  and  in  a  low  condition 
that  he  says,  "  The  Father  is  greater  than  I."  But 
lest  this  language  should  mislead  any  one,  and  cause 
them  to  think  that  in  his  divine  nature  he  was  inferior 
to  the  Father,  he  said,  "  I  and  the  Father  are  one," 
"He  that  hath  seen  me  hath  seen  the  Father.'' 
To  him  as  Mediator  in  his  exaltation  "  all  power  is 
given  in  heaven  and  earth  ;"  "All  judgment  is  com- 
mitted." By  his  divine  nature  and  by  divine  right  he 
was  fit  to  be  judge  of  the  world ;  but  he  who  was 
pierced  shall  be  on  the  throne.  The  entire  person  of 
the  Mediator,  the  man  Christ  Jesus,  shall  judge  the 
world.  Thus  and  thus  only  every  text  referring  to  him 
has  a  full,  fair,  plain,  consistent  sense  given  to  it. 

This  union  of  the  two  natures  in  Christ  is  most 
intimate.  No  union  could  be  more  perfect.  If  the 
term,  one  pe?'Son,  can  be  properly  applied  to  any  being 
in  the  universe,  that  being  is  Christ  Jesus,  the  Lord. 
So  the  Scriptures  uniformly  teach  by  speaking  of  him 
always  in  the  singular.  So  perfect  is  this  union,  that 
although  his  divine  nature,  because  divine,  could  nei- 
ther suffer  nor  die,  yet  we  properly  speak  of  him  as  a 
divine  sufferer.  Paul  calls  his  blood  the  blood  of  God. 
"  Feed  the  church  of  God,  which  he  hath  purchased 
with  his  own  blood."  The  same  person  is  God  and 
man  for  ever.  If  any  say  this  is  a  great  mystery,  the 
Bible  said  the  same  long  ago :  "  Great  is  the  mystery 
of  godliness ;  God  was  manifest  in  the  flesh."  Any- 
thing, which  we  do  not  comprehend,  is  mysterious. 
But  because  a  thing  is  incomprehensible,  it  is  not 
therefore  absurd  or  false.     No  man  comprehends  how 


HIS   GRACE   THEREIN.  1G1 

his  soul  and  body  are  united ;  yet  no  sober  man  doubts 
their  union.  No  man  knows  how  an  animal  frame  is 
nourished  by  food,  yet  we  all  know  the  fact.  How  the 
human  will  can  in  any  case  control  the  muscles  of  the 
body  is  inexplicable,  yet  the  fact  is  indisputable. 
Mysteriousness,  so  far  from  disproving  a  fact,  is  a 
property  of  every  fact  known  to  us.  Our  Lord  Jesus 
undertook  the  greatest  work  ever  devised,  viz.,  to  re- 
concile God  and  man.  In  doing  this  none  but  shallow 
thinkers  will  expect  everything  to  be  level  to  their 
comprehension,  and  none  but  the ..  unbelieving  and 
abominable  will  reject  his  grace,  because  they  discover' 
a  mystery  in  the  constitution  of  his  person. 

The  Westminster  Assembly  thus  expresses  the  wThole 
doctrine  of  this  chapter.  "  The  Son  of  God,  the 
second  person  in  the  Trinity,  being  very  and  eternal 
God,  of  one  substance  and  equal  with  the  Father,  did, 
when  the  fulness  of  time  was  come,  take  upon  him 
man's  nature,  and  all  the  essential  properties  and  com- 
mon infirmities  thereof,  yet  without  sin :  being  con- 
ceived by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  the  womb 
of  the  virgin  Mary,  of  her  substance.  So  that  two 
whole,  perfect,  distinct  natures,  the  Godhead  and  the 
manhood,  were  inseparably  joined  together  in  one  per- 
son, without  conversion,  composition  or  confusion. 
Which  person  is  very  God  and  very  man,  yet  one 
Christ,  the  only  Mediator  between  God  and  man." 

Without  giving  extended  quotations  from  symbols 

of  faith  on  this  head,  it  is  deemed  sufficient  to  say 

that  the  doctrine  of  this  chapter  is  not  controverted 

in  any  but  Arian,  Socinian  or  Unitarian  churches.     It 

is  thought,  however,  that  the  following  extract  from  the 

Confession  of  Belgia  may  be  useful  to  some :  "  We 
14* 


162       THE   CONSTITUTION   OF  CHRIST'S   PERSON. 

believe  also,  that  the  person  of  the  Son  [he  had  just 
been  called  God's  only  and  eternal  Son]  was,  by  his 
conception,  inseparably  united  and  coupled  with  the 
human  nature ;  yet  so  that  there  be  not  two  Sons  of 
God,  nor  two  persons,  but  two  natures  joined  together 
in  one  person ;  both  which  natures  do  still  retain  their 
own  properties.  So  that,  as  the  divine  nature  hath 
remained  always  uncreated,  without  beginning  of  days 
or  term  of  life,  filling  both  heaven  and  earth ;  so  the 
human  nature  hath  not  lost  its  properties,  but  hath 
remained  still  a  creature,  having  both  beginning  of 
days  and  a  finite  nature.  For  whatsoever  doth  agree 
unto  a  true  body,  that  it  still  retaineth :  and  although 
Christ,  by  his  resurrection,  hath  bestowed  immortality 
upon  it,  yet  notwithstanding,  he  hath  neither  taken 
away  the  truth  of  the  human  nature,  nor  altered  it. 
For  both  our  salvation,  and  also  our  resurrection 
depend  upon  the  truth  of  Christ's  body.  Yet  these 
two  natures  are  so  united  and  coupled  in  one  person,  that 
they  could  not,  no  not  in  his  death,  be  separated  one 
from  the  other.  Wherefore  that,  which  in  his  death  he 
commended  unto  his  Father,  was  indeed  a  human  spirit, 
departing  out  of  his  body ;  but  in  the  mean  time,  the 
divine  nature  did  always  remain  joined  to  the  human, 
even  then  when  he  lay  in  the  grave  ;  so  that  his  Deity 
was  no  less  in  him  at  that  time,  than  when  as  yet  he 
was  an  infant,  although  for  a  small  season  it  did  not  show 
forth  itself.  Wherefore,  we  confess  that  he  is  true  God, 
and  true  man ;  true  God,  that  by  his  power  he  might 
overcome  death ;  and  true  man,  that  in  the  infirmity 
of  his  flesh  he  might  die  for  us." 

Let  us  dwell  a  moment  on  the  grace  and  mercy  of 
Christ  in  the  constitution  of  his  person.     Duly  con- 


HIS   GRACE   THEREIN.  163 

sidered  his  incarnation  is  the  most  amazing  step  in  his 
humiliation.  His  first  becoming  a  man  is  more  surpris- 
ing than  his  sufferings  and  death  after  he  became  man. 
Having  assumed  our  nature,  we  should  expect  that  he 
would  submit  to  all  else  necessary  for  our  deliverance. 
But  the  marvel  is  that  he  should  have  ever  married  our 
nature.  Here  is  the  mystery  of  mysteries,  the  wonder 
of  wonders.  The  conduct  of  the  heavenly  host  at  his 
birth  seems  to  justify  such  views  as  this.  Many  things 
in  Scripture  look  the  same  way.  The  following  is  but 
a  sample  of  the  way  in  which  inspired  men  treat  the 
whole  subject  of  his  humiliation :  "  Ye  know  the  grace 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  though  he  was  rich,  yet 
for  your  sakes  he  became  poor,  that  ye  through  his 
poverty  might  be  rich."  In  his  incarnation  the  Son  of 
God  stooped  to  a  union  with  the  lowest  intelligent  na- 
ture, and  that  nature  all  in  ruin  and  rebellion.  In 
dying  it  was  the  human  nature  alone  that  suffered. 


CHAPTER  XXI 


THE  WORK   AND   SUFFERINGS   OF   CHRIST. — HIS  ACTIVE 
AND    PASSIVE   OBEDIENCE. 

Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  became  incarnate,  was  made 
under  the  law,  lived,  acted,  obeyed,  suffered,  died  and 
rose  again  for  his  people.  He  came  down  to  earth 
that  they  might  go  up  to  heaven.  He  suffered  that 
they  might  reign.  He  became  a  servant  that  they 
might  become  kings  and  priests  unto  God.  He  died 
that  they  might  live.  He  bore  the  cross  that  their 
enmity  might  be  slain,  and  their  sins  expiated.  He 
loved  them  that  they  might  love  God.  He  was  rich 
and  became  poor  that  they,  who  were  poor,  might  be 
made  rich.  He  descended  into  the  lower  parts  of  the 
earth  that  they  might  sit  in  heavenly  places.  He 
emptied  himself  that  they  might  be  filled  with  all  the 
fulness  of  God.  He  took  upon  him  human  nature  that 
they  might  be  partakers  of  the  divine  nature.  He 
made  flesh  his  dwelling  place  that  they  might  be  an 
habitation  of  God  through  the  Spirit.  He  made  him- 
self of  no  reputation,  that  they  might  wear  his  new 
name,  and  be  counted  an  eternal  excellency.  He  be- 
came a  worm,  and  no  man,  that  they,  who  were  sinful 
worms,  might  be  made  equal  to  the  angels.  He  bore 
the  curse  of  a  broken  covenant  that  they  might  par- 
take of  all  the  blessings  of  the  everlasting  covenant, 
ordered  in  all  things  and  sure.  Though  heir  of  all 
(164) 


THE  WORK  AND  SUFFERINGS  OF  CHRIST.  165 

things,  he  was  willingly  despised  of  the  people,  that 
they,  who  were  justly  condemned,  might  obtain  an 
inheritance  that  is  incorruptible,  undefiled,  and  that 
fadeth  not  away.  His  death  was  a  satisfaction  to 
divine  justice,  a  ransom  for  many,  a  propitiation  for 
sin,  a  sweet  smelling  savour  to  God,  that  we,  who 
were  an  oifcnce  to  God,  might  become  his  sons  and 
daughters.  He  was  made  sin  for  his  people  that  they 
might  be  made  the  righteousness  of  God  in  him. 
Though  Lord  of  all  he  took  the  form  of  a  servant,  that 
they,  who  were  the  servants  of  sin,  might  prevail  like 
princes  with  God.  He,  who  had  made  swaddling- 
bands  for  the  sea,  was  wrapped  in  swaddling-clothes 
that  they,  who  were  cast  out  in  their  blood,  might  be 
clothed  in  linen  white  and  clean,  which  is  the  right- 
eousness of  saints.  He  had  not  where  to  lay  his  head 
that  they  who  otherwise  must  have  lain  down  in  eter- 
nal sorrow,  might  reach  the  mansions  in  his  Father's 
house.  He  was  beset  with  lions  and  bulls  of  Bashan, 
that  his  chosen  might  be  compassed  about  with  an  in- 
numerable company  of  angels  and  of  the  spirits  of  just 
men  made  perfect.  He  drank  the  cup  of  God's  indig- 
nation that  they  might  for  ever  drink  of  the  river  of 
his  pleasures.  He  hungered  that  they  might  eat  the 
bread  of  life.  He  thirsted  that  they  might  drink  the 
water  of  life.  He  was  numbered  with  the  transgressors 
that  they  might  stand  among  the  justified,  and  be 
counted  among  his  jewels.  He  made  his  grave  with 
the  wicked  that  they  might  sleep  in  Jesus.  Though 
he  was  set  up  from  everlasting,  from  the  beginning,  or 
ever  the  earth  was,  yet  he  became  a  helpless  infant, 
that  creatures  of  yesterday,  sentenced  to  death,  might 
live  for  ever.     He  wore  a  crown  of  thorns  that  all, 


166         THE  WORK  AND  SUFFERINGS  OF  CHRIST. 

who  love  his  appearing,  might  wear  a  crown  of  life. 
He  wept  tears  of  anguish  that  his  elect  might  weep 
tears  of  repentance  not  to  be  repented  of.  He  bore 
the  yoke  of  obedience  unto  death  that  they  might  find 
his  yoke  easy  and  his  burden  light.  He  poured  out 
his  soul  unto  death,  lay  three  days  in  the  heart  of  the 
earth,  then  burst  the  bars  of  death,  and  arose  to  God, 
that  they,  who  through  fear  of  death  were  all  their  life- 
time subject  to  bondage,  might  obtain  the  victory  over 
the  grave  and  become  partakers  of  his  resurrection. 

He  exhausted  the  penalty  of  the  law  that  his  re- 
deemed might  have  access  to  the  inexhaustible  trea- 
sures of  mercy,  wisdom,  faithfulness,  truth  and  grace 
promised  by  the  Lord.  He  passed  from  humiliation 
to  humiliation,  till  he  reached  the  sepulchre  of  Joseph, 
that  his  people  might  be  changed  from  glory  to  glory 
as  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord.  He  wTas  matchless  in 
grace  that  they  might  be  matchless  in  gratitude. 
Though  a  Son,  he  became  a  voluntary  exile,  that  they, 
who  had  wickedly  wandered  afar  off,  might  be  brought 
nigh  by  his  blood.  He  was  compassed  about  with  all 
their  innocent  infirmities  that  he  might  perfect  his 
strength  in  their  weakness.  His  visage  was  so  marred 
more  than  any  man,  that  his  ransomed  might  be  pre- 
sented before  God  without  spot,  or  blemish,  or  wrinkle, 
or  any  such  thing.  For  a  time  he  was  forsaken  of  his 
Eather  that  they,  wThom  he  bought  with  his  blood, 
might  behold  the  light  of  God's  countenance  for  ever. 
He  came  and  dwelt  with  them  that  they  might  be  for 
ever  writh  the  Lord.  He  was  hung  up  naked  before 
his  insulting  foes  that  all,  who  believe  on  his  name, 
might  wear  a  glorious  wedding  garment,  a  spotless 
righteousness.     Though  he  was  dead,  he  is  the  first- 


HIS  ACTIVE  AND  PASSIVE  OBEDIENCE.  167 

born  among  many  brethren.  Through  his  sorrow  his 
people  obtain  joy  and  gladness,  and  sorrow  and  sighing 
flee  away.  Though  he  endured  the  worst  things,  they 
do  and  shall  for  ever  enjoy  the  best  things.  Wonder- 
ful mystery  !  God  was  manifest  in  the  flesh  !  Here 
is  no  absurdity,  no  contradiction,  no  fiction,  and  yet  a 
mystery  that  baffles  all  attempts  to  solve  it,  and  dazzles 
all  human  and  angelic  vision.  Blessed  is  he,  who  is 
not  offended  in  Jesus.  Blessed  is  he,  who  loves  the 
incarnate  mystery,  and  rests  upon  it.  It  is  a  mystery 
of  love,  of  truth,  of  grace,  of  wisdom,  of  condescen- 
sion, of  power,  of  salvation.  It  is  the  mystery  of  God- 
liness. It  is  the  great  study  of  the  inhabitants  of 
heaven,  and  shall  be  while  immortality  endures. 

If  it  be  allowed  to  take  these  statements  in  a  gene- 
ral and  vague  sense,  most  persons,  "who  are  willing  to 
be  called  evangelical,  will  at  least  assent  to  them. 
But  let  us  consider  more  particularly  the  work  and  the 
sufferings  of  our  Lord,  what  he  did,  and  what  he  en- 
dured, his  obedience  to  law,  and  his  submission  to  pain. 
It  is  true  these  things  were  not  separated  in  him ;  but 
it  is  true  that  they  can  be  distinguished.  Some  igno- 
rant persons  have  seemed  to  suppose  that  orthodox 
Christians  held  that  Christ  obeyed  one  day  or  hour 
and  suffered  another.  This  is  not  the  teaching  of  any. 
Christ  was  from  his  birth  to  his  death  a  sufferer.  He 
was  also  a  servant  to  do  the  will  of  God.  He  obeyed 
in  suffering.  He  suffered  in  obeying.  His  obedience 
to  the  precept  and  his  endurance  of  the  penalty  of  the 
law  ran  parallel  to  each  other.  Sound  divines  have 
therefore  commonly  spoken  of  Christ's  active  and 
passive  obedience  as  comprehending  the  whole  of  his 
work  on  earth.     His  active  obedience  was  rendered  to 


168         THE  WORK  AND  SUFFERINGS  OF  CHRIST. 

the  moral  law  as  a  rule  of  life.  His  passive  obedience 
"was  his  voluntary  submission  to  the  penal  sufferings 
provided  by  the  law  for  the  transgressors  of  its  holy 
commandments.  Although  a  few  good  men  have  not 
favoured  this  formal  distinction,  yet  the  great  body  of 
sound  writers  have  approved  it.  Nor  is  there  any  ob- 
jection to  it,  if  correctly  understood.  And  until  a 
better  mode  of  explaining  the  mediatorial  work  of 
Christ  on  earth  shall  be  suggested,  let  the  friends  of 
truth  hold  fast  to  the  established  language  of  sound 
divinity.  It  is  remarkable  that  modern  writers,  who 
oppose  the  use  of  these  phrases  almost  without  excep- 
tion are  very  erroneous  on  other  points.  If  a  man  de- 
nies that  Christ  obeyed  the  precept  of  the  law  for  us, 
it  is  almost  certain  that  he  will  deny  that  he  bore  the 
curse  or  penalty  of  the  law  in  our  stead.  Nor  is  it 
known  that  any  sound  writer  has  ever  rejected  the 
doctrine,  which  sober  divines  have  always  understood 
to  be  involved  in  the  active  and  passive  obedience  of 
Christ. 

Thus  Owen  says :  "  I  shall  not  immix  myself  in  the 
debate  of  the  distinction  between  the  active  and  passive 
obedience  of  Christ."  This  might  startle  some.  But 
the  fact  is  that  some  writers  in  his  day  had  tediously 
dwelt  upon  the  distinction,  and  had  probably  conveyed 
the  idea  that  Christ's  active  and  passive  obedience 
were  not  only  distinguishable  but  separable.  But 
Owen  instantly  relieves  our  minds.  His  next  words 
are :  "  For  he  exercised  the  highest  active  obedience 
in  his  suffering,  when  he  offered  himself  to  God,  through 
the  eternal  Spirit.  And  all  his  obedience,  considering 
his  person,  was  mixed  with  suffering,  as  a  part  of  his 
ex-inanition    [emptying    himself]    and    humiliation; 


HIS  ACTIVE  AND  PASSIVE  OBEDIENCE.  169 

■whence  it  is  said,  that  '  though  he  were  a  Son,  yet 
learned  he  obedience  by  the  things  that  he  suffered.'  " 
Such  an  explanation  instantly  given  by  the  author 
himself  relieves  all  our  concern  for  his  statement ;  espe- 
cially when  in  the  same  and  preceding  chapter  he 
speaks  thus :  "  There  is  no  other  way  whereby  the 
original,  immutable  law  of  God  may  be  established, 
and  fulfilled  with  respect  unto  us,  but  by  the  imputa- 
tion of  the  perfect  obedience  and  righteousness  of 
Christ,  who  is  the  end  of  the  law  for  righteousness  unto 
all  that  do  believe."  Indeed  he  enters  into  a  formal 
argument  in  defence  of  "  the  imputation  of  the  active 
obedience  or  righteousness  of  Christ  unto  us,  as  an 
essential  part  of  that  righteousness  whereon  we  are 
justified  before  God."  His  words  are:  "If  it  were 
necessary  that  the  Lord  Christ,  as  our  surety  should 
undergo  the  penalty  of  the  law  for  us,  or  in  our  stead, 
because  we  all  have  sinned;  then  it  was  necessary 
also,  that  as  our  surety  he  should  yield  obedience  unto 
the  preceptive  part  of  the  law  for  us  also :  and  if  the 
imputation  of  the  former  be  needful  for  us  unto  our 
justification  before  God,  then  is  the  imputation  of  the 
latter  also  necessary  unto  the  same  end  and  purpose." 
"And  as  we  are  no  more  able  of  ourselves  to  fulfil  the 
law,  in  a  way  of  obedience,  than  to  undergo  the  penalty 
of  it,  so  as  that  we  may  be  justified  thereby ;  so  no 
reason  can  be  given,  why  God  is  not  as  much  con- 
cerned in  honour  and  glory,  that  the  preceptive  power 
and  part  of  the  law  be  complied  withal,  by  perfect 
obedience,  as  that  the  sanction  of  it  be  established  by 
undergoing  the  penalty  of  it."  Very  much  more  he 
says  to  the  same  purport.  Indeed  he  alleges  that  in 
this  matter  "  our  principal  difference  is  with  the  Soci- 
15 


170         THE  WORK  AND  SUFFERINGS  OF  CHRIST. 

mans,"  and  he  states  and  refutes  their  answers  at 
length.  In  truth  Socinus  and  his  followers  exhausted 
all  the  arguments  that  could  be  brought-  against 
Christ's  complete  satisfaction.  Owen  having  made 
a  long  quotation  from  that  dangerous  heretic  on  this 
subject  adds  :  "  I  have  transcribed  his  words,  that  it 
may  appear  with  whose  weapons  some  young  disputers, 
among  ourselves,  do  contend  against  the  truth."  This 
remark  is  as  applicable  to  errorists  in  the  middle  of 
the  nineteenth  century  as  it  was  to  their  predecessors 
two  hundred  years  ago.  The  same  is  true  of  the  fol- 
lowing remark :  "  There  is  nothing  in  the  whole  doc- 
trine of  justification,  which  meets  with  a  more  fierce 
and  various  opposition." 

That  Charnock  held  the  same  doctrine  is  very  clear ; 
for  in  extolling  the  work  of  the  Mediator,  he  thus 
dwells  on  "  His  obedience  to  his  Father.  It  is  a  signal 
testimony  given  him,  that  he  was  obedient  even  to  the 
death  of  the  cross.  Phil.  ii.  8.  The  sharper  then  his 
circumstances  were  upon  the  cross,  the  more  illustrious 
his  obedience  was.  The  lustre  of  obedience  is  seen  in 
engaging  upon  command  with  the  most  affrighting  dif- 
ficulties." He  subsequently  dwells  at  length  on  the 
sufferings  of  Christ. 

Archbishop  Leighton  speaking  on  1  Cor.  i.  30,  "  he 
is  made  of  God  unto  us  righteousness,"  &c,  says: 
"  This  doubtless  is  meant  of  the  righteousness  by  which 
we  are  justified  before  God ;  and  as  he  is  made  this  to 
us,  applied  by  faith,  his  righteousness  becomes  ours. 
That  exchange  made,  our  sins  are  laid  over  on  him, 
and  his  obedience  put  upon  us." 

The  Rev.  Thomas  Boston  says  that  Christ's  obedi- 
ence to  the  law  for  his  people  included  "  these  three 


HIS  ACTIVE  AND  PASSIVE  OBEDIENCE.  171 

things  following :  1.  '  That  he,  as  the  second  Adam, 
should  obey  the  whole  law,  in  the  name  of  those  he 
represented.'  This  was  a  debt  owing  by  them  all,  and 
was  required  of  them,  by  the  law,  as  a  condition  of 
life."  "It  was  provided,  that  Christ,  as  their  repre- 
sentative, should  give  obedience  to  the  whole  law  for 
them ;  that  both  tables  of  the  law,  and  each  command 
of  each  table,  should  have  the  due  obedience  from  him ; 
that  the  law  being  laid  before  him,  in  its  spirituality 
and  full  extent,  he  should  fully  answer  it,  in  internal 
and  external  obedience,  in  his  mind,  will  and  affections, 
in  thought,  word  and  deed :  that  he  should  conform 
himself  to  the  whole  natural  law,  and  to  all  divine  in- 
stitutions, ceremonial  or  political,  so  as  to  be  circum- 
cised, keep  the  passover,  to  be  baptized,  to  be  a  ser- 
vant or  subject  to  rulers,  pay  tribute  to  whom  it  was 
due,  and  the  like."  [In  fact  the  very  reason  Christ 
gave  for  being  baptized  was  that  "  thus  it  becometh 
us  to  fulfil  all  righteousness."] 

2.  "  That  every  part  of  that  obedience  should  be 
carried  to  the  highest  pitch  and  degree.  This  the  law 
required  of  them,  as  a  condition  of  life. 

"Lastly,  that  all  this  should  be  continued  to  the 
end,  without  the  least  failure  in  one  jot  of  parts,  or 
degrees  of  obedience.  This  also  was  a  condition  of 
life."  *  *  It  was  agreed  that  the  second  Adam  should, 
in  the  name  of  those  he  represented,  '  continue  in  all 
things,  written  in  the  book  of  the  law  to  do  them'  even 
to  the  end.  All  which  he  did  accordingly  fulfil,  being 
'obedient  unto  death.'  "  Phil.  ii.  8. 

Ridgley  says  :  "  Satisfaction  must  bear  some  simili- 
tude, or  resemblance,  as  to  the  matter  of  it,  to  that 
debt  which  was  due  from  those  for  whom  it  was  to  be 


172         THE  WOKK  AND  SUFFERINGS  OF  CHRIST. 

given.  Here  we  must  consider  what  was  the  debt  due 
from  us,  for  which  a  demand  of  satisfaction  was  made ; 
this  was  twofold. 

"  1st.  A  debt  of  perfect  and  sinless  obedience,  whereby 
the  glory  of  God's  sovereignty  might  be  secured,  and 
the  honour  of  his  law  maintained.  This  debt  it  was 
morally  impossible  for  man  to  pay,  after  his  fall ;  for 
it  implies  a  contradiction  to  say  that  a  fallen  creature 
can  yield  a  sinless  obedience ;  nevertheless  it  was  de- 
manded of  us,  though  fallen ;  for  the  obligation  could 
not  be  disannulled  by  our  disability  to  perform  it. 

"2dly.  There  was  a  debt  of  punishment,  which  we 
were  liable  to,  in  proportion  to  the  demerit  of  sin,  as 
the  result  of  the  condemning  sentence  of  the  law, 
which  threatened  death  for  every  transgression  and 
disobedience.  Now,  to  be  satisfaction  to  the  justice 
of  God,  it  must  have  these  ingredients  in  it." 

Dr.  A.  Alexander  says :  "  By  the  righteousness  of 
Christ,  we  mean  all  that  he  did  and  suffered  to  satisfy 
the  broken  law  of  God,  for  those  whose  salvation  he 
undertook  to  secure.  It  has  been  shown  that  the  law 
has  a  double  demand  upon  us,  both  of  which  must  be 
satisfied  before  a  sentence  of  justification  can  right- 
eously be  pronounced."  The  "  double  demand"  here 
spoken  of  is  explained  to  be  obedience  to  the  precept, 
and  endurance  of  the  penalty  of  the  law. 

Indeed  so  precious  is  the  doctrine  of  the  full  and 
perfect  obedience  of  Christ,  both  in  doing  and  suffer- 
ing, in  meeting  the  demands  of  both  the  precept  and 
the  penalty  of  the  law,  that  in  experience  no  enlight- 
ened mind  can  rest  satisfied  until  it  is  assured  of  the 
truth  of  the  positions  here  maintained.  Some  indeed 
object  and  say  Christ's  obedience  to  the  precept  of 


HIS  ACTIVE  AND  PASSIVE  OBEDIENCE.  173 

the  law  was  due  from  him  for  himself,  his  human  na- 
ture being  under  natural  and  indissoluble  obligations 
to  holiness.  It  is  indeed  true  that  Christ's  human  na- 
ture was  bound  for  itself  after  being  in  existence  to 
obey  the  law.  And  so  was  Adam  in  the  garden  of 
Eden.  Yet  if  he  had  stood  faithful  to  the  end  of  his 
probation,  his  obedience  would  have  been  counted  not 
only  for  himself  but  for  us  also.  So  the  obedience  of 
Christ  not  only  caused  the  Father  to  say  "  This  is  my 
beloved  Son  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased,"  but  also  for 
hfs  sake  to  promise  eternal  life  to  as  many  as  are  found 
in  him,  clothed  with  his  righteousness.  Besides  the 
person  of  the  Mediator  was  constituted  of  a  divine  and 
a  human  nature.  In  his  divine  nature  he  was  the  law- 
giver, the  Lord  of  the  Sabbath  day,  and  the  King  uni- 
versal. This  gave  to  his  obedience  both  to  the  pre- 
cept and  penalty  of  the  law,  a  value  transcending  all 
our  conceptions  of  merit  as  obtained  even  by  angels 
who  never  sinned. 

This  is  the  very  doctrine  of  the  Scriptures.  The 
reader  has  already  had  the  interpretation  of  Charnock 
and  Boston  of  the  phrase  "  obedient  unto  death." 
Phil.  ii.  8.  Ridgley  interprets  the  phrase  the  same 
way,  viz :  to  signify  Christ's  active  obedience,  even  in 
dying.  That  this  is  the  correct  mode  of  interpreting 
the  text  has  long  been  held  by  the  Church  of  God. 
The  same  doctrine  is  clearly  taught  by  Paul  in  Rom. 
v.  12 — 19.  There  our  justification  is  clearly  stated 
to  be  "  by  the  obedience  of  one,"  by  the  righteousness 
of  one."  To  say  that  "  obedience"  and  "righteous- 
ness" mean  death,  and  death  only  is  taking  such  a 
liberty  with  terms  as,  if  carried  out,  will  enable  us  to 
subvert  every  truth  of  Scripture,  every  record  of  his- 
15* 


174         THE  WORK  AND  SUFFERINGS  OF  CHRIST. 

tory.  If  Christ's  "  obedience,"  in  Romans  v.  has  any 
meaning,  it  is  the  opposite  of  Adam's  "  disobedience." 
Christ's  "  righteousness"  is  the  opposite  of  Adam's 
"offence."  If  Christ's  obedience  means  simply  his 
death,  then  Adam's  disobedience  means  simply  his 
life.  If  Christ's  righteousness  includes  nothing  but 
his  suffering  on  the  cross,  Adam's  offence  must  be  that 
he  did  not  suffer  for  us.  In  fine,  no  more  unwarrant- 
able liberties  are  taken  with  God's  word  than  by  the 
enemies  of  the  doctrine  of  Christ's  active  obedience. 
In  Gal.  iv.  4,  5,  Paul  says :  "  God  sent  forth  his  Son, 
made  of  a  woman,  made  under  the  law,  to  redeem 
them  that  were  under  the  law."  A  law  consists  of 
two  parts ;  1.  a  precept,  a  rule  to  be  followed,  a  canon ; 
and  2.  a  sanction,  a  penalty  for  the  transgressor. 
Now,  was  Jesus  Christ  made  under  the  precept  only, 
or  the  penalty  only  ?  One  errorist  will  perhaps  say 
one  thing,  and  another  a  different  thing.  Some  very 
bold  heretics  will  deny  that  he  was  placed  either 
under  the  precept  or  the  penalty  for  us ;  but  from  the 
days  of  Paul  to  the  present  the  Church  of  God  has 
held  that  Christ  was  made  under  both  the  precept  and 
the  penalty  of  the  law  for  us.  Indeed  it  is  well  worthy 
of  notice  that  as  error  never  stops  of  its  own  accord, 
as  its  nature  is  to  sink  lower  and  lower,  so  it  is  very 
common,  yea,  almost  universal  to  find  those,  who  ob- 
ject to  Christ's  active  obedience  soon  subverting  all 
his  righteousness,  and  even  denying  that  he  bore  the 
penalty  of  the  law  for  us,  and  contending  that  even 
his  death  was  but  a  show  of  what  God  could  do  when 
he  chose  to  express  his  indignation  against  his  well 
beloved  Son.  But  of  Christ's  death,  and  the  atone- 
ment thereby  made  the  next  chapter  will  treat. 


CHAPTER    XXII 


THE  DEATH  OF  CHRIST. — THE  ATONEMENT. 

When  we  speak  of  the  cross  and  death  of  Christ, 
we  intend  to  set  forth  all  his  expiatory  work.  Christ's 
sufferings  did  not  begin  at  the  time  of  his  crucifixion. 
Nor  were  his  last  sufferings  alone  possessed  of  value. 
The  flight  into  Egypt  no  less  than  the  nailing  to  the 
cross,  the  hunger  and  subsequent  temptation  in  the 
wilderness  no  less  than  the  thirst  upon  the  cross,  be- 
longed to  the  sum  of  those  things,  which  he  endured 
for  others.  From  most  men  the  time  and  manner  of 
their  death  are  mercifully  concealed  until  they  are  about 
to  leave  the  world.  But  the  Lord  Jesus  knew  the  end 
from  the  beginning.  He  had  all  the  revolting  circum- 
stances distinctly  before  his  mind  for  long  years  be- 
fore his  crucifixion.  His  life  was  as  a  death.  He 
died  as  it  were  a  thousand  times.  No  words  nor  acts 
of  our  blessed  Lord  convey  more  just  conceptions  of 
the  anguish  he  endured  than  that  saying  of  his  spoken 
long  before  his  betrayal :  "I  have  a  baptism  to  be 
baptized  with ;  and  how  am  I  straitened  till  it  be  ac- 
complished." Luke  xii.  50.  Here  is  one  secret  of  the 
sorrows  of  his  life.  I  marvel  not  that  his  visage  was 
so  marred  more  than  any  man,  and  his  form  more  than 
the  sons  of  men.  No  sorrows  were  ever  so  keen,  so 
consuming,  and  so  long  continued  as  his.  Well  may 
we  blush  to  have  made  an  ado  over  the  comparatively 

(175) 


176  THE   DEATH   OF   CHRIST. 

little  ills,  to  which  our  sins,  or  our  sense  of  duty  may 
at  any  time  have  subjected  us. 

Yet  the  actual  death  of  Christ  was  necessary.  If  it 
had  not  been,  it  would  not  have  occurred.  The  modes 
of  bringing  Christ's  mediatorial  work  on  earth  into 
disesteem  are  countless.  Some,  using  great  swelling 
words,  have  said  that  his  death  was  unnecessary,  and 
that  one  drop  of  his  blood  was  sufficient  to  all  the  ends 
of  his  death.  But  the  Scriptures  teach  no  such  doc- 
trine. They  clearly  declare  that  Christ  ought  to  have 
suffered  all  that  came  upon  him,  and  so  to  enter  into 
his  glory.  Such  a  view  is  also  very  derogatory  to  the 
character  of  God.  Flavel  says :  "  I  dare  not  affirm, 
as  some  do,  that  by  reason  of  the  infinite  preciousness 
of  Christ's  blood,  one  drop  thereof  had  been  sufficient 
to  have  redeemed  the  whole  world :  for  if  one  drop  had 
been  enough,  why  was  all  the  rest,  even  to  the  last 
drop,  shed  ?  Was  God  cruel,  to  exact  more  from  him 
than  was  needful  and  sufficient?  Besides,  we  must 
remember,  that  the  passions  [sufferings]  of  Christ, 
which  were  inflicted  on  him  as  the  curse  of  the  law, 
these  only  are  the  passions,  which  are  sufficient  for 
our  redemption  from  the  curse  of  the  law.  Now  it 
was  not  a  drop  of  blood,  but  death,  which  was  con- 
tained in  the  curse  :  this  therefore  was  necessary  to 
be  inflicted.  But  surely  as  none  but  God  can  estimate 
the  weight  and  evil  of  sin,  so  none  but  he  can  compre- 
hend the  worth  and  preciousness  of  the  blood  of  Christ, 
shed  to  expiate  it."  The  death  of  Christ  was  neces- 
sary. The  victim,  because  it  stood  in  the  place  of  the 
transgressor,  must  die.  "A  testament  is  of  force  after 
men  are  dead :  otherwise  it  is  of  no  strength  at  all 
while  the  testator  liveth."     While  Jews,  infidels  and 


THE   ATONEMENT.  177 

Christians  all  agree  in  holding  that  Christ  died,  the 
latter  only  hold,  that  without  his  death  we  could  not 
be  saved. 

Of  the  nature  and  intention  of  Christ's  sufferings, 
which  terminated  in  his  death,  the  human  mind  has 
indulged  many  wild  and  dangerous  fancies.  There 
are  still  men  on  earth,  who  boldly  deny  that  Jesus 
Christ  endured  the  penalty  of  the  law  in  the  room  and 
stead  of  sinners,  or  that  the  sins  of  any  were  imputed 
to  him,  or  that  he  was  a  substitute  for  others,  or  that 
his  sufferings  were  strictly  vicarious.  With  very  va- 
rious degrees  of  ignorance  or  hatred  of  the  truth,  men 
reject  all  the  established  forms  in  which  sound  doc- 
trine is  taught.  Yet  all  error  is  dangerous,  and  all 
truth  is  precious.  The  doctrine  of  the  death  of  Christ 
holds  a  very  prominent  place  in  the  Christian  system. 
In  fact  it  is  a  central  truth  and  demands  our  warmest 
love. 

The  common  doctrine  of  the  Christian  world  has 
been  that  our  sins  were  imputed  to  Christ,  that  he 
bore  the  curse  due  to  us  for  our  transgressions,  that 
he  endured  the  penalty  of  the  law  in  our  stead,  that 
his  sufferings  were  those  of  a  substitute  for  guilty  men. 
It  has  been  the  judgment  of  the  people  of  God  for 
ages  on  ages  that  this  doctrine  is  well  established  in 
both  the  Old  and  the  New  Testaments. 

It  is  natural  to  inquire  whether  our  Lord  himself 
explained  the  nature  and  object  of  his  own  death.  In 
the  Gospels  we  gain  light  on  this  point.  "  The  Son 
of  man  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister, 
and  to  give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many."  Matt.  xx. 
28,  and  Mark  x.  45.  In  full  agreement  with  this  de- 
claration Paul  says  that  Christ  "  gave  himself  a  ran- 


178  THE  DEATH   OF   CHRIST. 

som  for  all  to  be  testified  in  due  season."  1  Tim.  ii.  6. 
The  words  translated  ransom  in  these  passages  are  not 
the  same.  One  is  lutron,  the  price  of  redemption. 
The  other  is  antilutron,  which  also  signifies  ransom, 
the  price  of  redemption.  Our  Lord  then  did  not  die 
reluctantly,  nor  as  the  martyrs  died,  but  he  died  in 
commutation  or  compensation,  as  Grotius  says.  His 
life  was  the  price  of  our  deliverance.  It  was  all  the 
price  demanded.  It  was  the  ransom,  the  full  ransom. 
Robinson's  definition  of  lutron  is  "  loosing-money,  a 
ransom,  the  price  paid  for  the  release  of  any  one." 
His  definition  of  antilutron  is  "an  equivalent  for  re- 
demption, i.  e.  a  ransom."  Christ  paid  the  price  for 
which  many,  who  had  been  justly  detained  as  prison- 
ers to  sin  and  death,  are  released. 

Our  Lord  also  said :  "  This  is  my  blood  of  the  New 
Testament  which  is  shed  for  many  for  the  remission  of 
sins."  Matt.  xxvi.  28.  Whose  blood  besides  was  ever 
shed  for  the  same  end  ?  Isaiah,  John  the  Baptist, 
Stephen  and  many  others  died  for  the  truth,  but  not 
for  the  remission  of  sins.  In  full  accordance  with  this 
Paul  says  that  Christ  "purged  our  sins."  Heb.  i.  3. 
"  Without  shedding  of  blood  is  no  remission."  Heb.  ix. 
22.  Here  is  the  reason  why  "  repentance  and  remis- 
sion of  sins  should  be  preached  in  his  name  among  all 
nations."  Luke  xxiv.  47.  Remission  is  by  no  other 
name  given  under  heaven  among  men.  Not  the  blood 
of  the  prophets,  nor  of  the  martyrs,  nor  of  beasts,  but 
only  the  blood  of  Christ  secures  the  forgiveness  of 
sins.     Rev.  i.  5 ;  Acts  xx.  28  ;  Heb.  ix.  12. 

Again,  Christ  says  :  "  I  am  the  good  shepherd  ;  the 
good  shepherd  giveth  his  life  for  the  sheep."  John  x. 
11.     "  Great  and  good,  just  and  holy,  as  he  is,  he  saw 


THE  ATONEMENT.  179 

his  sheep  about  to  perish  in  their  wanderings,  and  in 
order  to  expiate  their  guilt,  and  to  ransom  them  from 
destruction,  he  not  only  endured  hardship,  and  en- 
countered danger,  but  he  '  laid  down  his  life  for  them,' 
and  in  their  stead  !"  With  the  truths  thus  explicitly 
taught  well  agree  all  those  general  statements  of 
Christ  respecting  his  mission  into  this  world,  such  as 
this,  "  The  Son  of  man  is  come  to  seek  and  to  save 
that  which  was  lost."  Luke  xix.  10.  He  is  the  Saviour. 
That  is  his  name.  The  reason  why  he  bears  his  name 
Jesus  is  that  he  saves  his  people  from  their  sins. 

The  apostles  and  prophets  give  an  account  of  the 
death  of  Christ  every  way  coincident  with  that  given 
by  the  Lord  himself.  Thus  Peter  says  :  "  Christ  also 
hath  once  suffered  for  sins,  the  just  for  the  unjust, 
that  he  might  bring  us  to  God."  1  Pet.  iii.  18.  All 
suffering  under  the  moral  government  of  God  is  in 
some  sense  "  for  sins."  "  Death  by  sin."  Some  suf- 
fering is  purely  by  way  of  condign  punishment.  Thus 
lost  angels  suffer  for  their  own  sins.  Some  suffering 
is  disciplinary,  and  is  designed  to  wean  men  from 
error.  Thus  the  pious  Christian  often  suffers  for  his 
follies.  Some  suffering  is  exemplary.  Thus  the  old 
prophets  often  suffered.  James  v.  10.  But  the  ground 
of  their  suffering  was  always  their  own  sins.  God 
never  permitted  a  holy  angel  to  be  a  sufferer.  The 
wicked  who  are  suffering  the  vengeance  of  eternal  fire, 
are  also  an  ensample  to  us,  but  they  suffer  justly  for 
their  own  sins.  The  last  kind  of  suffering  for  sin  is 
expiatory,  where  "  the  just"  suffers  "  for  the  unjust." 
Christ  in  no  sense  suffered  for  himself.  In  fact  the 
apostle  in  the  next  chapter  says  expressly  that  "  Christ 
hath  suffered  for  us  in  the  flesh."  1  Pet.  iv.  1. 


180  THE   DEATH   OF   CHRIST. 

In  like  manner  the  Scriptures  generally  and  expli- 
citly teach  that  Christ  died  for  our  sins.  "  He  was 
delivered  for  our  offences."  Rom.  iv.  25.  "He  gave 
himself  for  our  sins."  Gal.  i.  4.  "  Christ  died  for  our 
sins  according  to  the  Scriptures."  1  Cor.  xv.  3.  No 
words  could  more  clearly  teach  that  Christ's  death  was 
because  of  our  offences  against  God,  on  account  of  our 
rebellion  against  the  Most  High.  The  word  of  God 
as  clearly  expresses  the  same  truth  in  other  language. 
"  While  we  were  yet  sinners,  Christ  died  for  us." 
Rom.  v.  8.  "  Christ  died  for  the  ungodly."  Rom.  v.  6. 
"  This  is  my  body,  which  is  broken  for  you."  1  Cor. 
xi.  24.  Here  is  substitution  taught  in  the  clearest 
terms.  Christ  died  in  the  room  and  stead  of  us,  sin- 
ners and  ungodly. 

By  two  different  writers  of  Scripture  Christ  is  said 
to  be  the  propitiation  for  our  sins.  "  Whom  God  hath 
set  forth  to  be  a  propitiation,  through  faith  in  his 
blood,  to  declare  his  righteousness  for  the  remission  of 
sins,  that  are  past."  Rom.  iii.  25.  "  He  is  the  pro- 
pitiation for  our  sins."  1  John  ii.  2.  "  He  loved  us, 
and  sent  his  Son  to  be  the  propitiation  for  our  sins." 
1  John  iv.  10.  In  the  above  verses  it  is  not  the  same 
word  in  all  places  that  is  rendered  propitiation.  Paul's 
word  is  hilasterion  ;  John's  is  hilasmos.  They  are,  how- 
ever, both  correctly  rendered  propitiation,  meaning  an 
expiation  for  sin.  In  full  harmony  with  the  foregoing, 
Paul  says  that  "  Christ  also  hath  loved  us  and  hath 
given  himself  for  us  an  offering  and  a  sacrifice  to  God 
for  a  sweet-smelling  savour."  Eph.  v.  2.  All  Christ 
did  he  did  "  for  us."  In  particular  when  he  offered 
himself  a  sacrifice  it  was  not  for  himself,  but  for  us. 
He  needed  no  expiation  on  his  own  account,  because  he 


THE  ATONEMENT.  181 

was  holy  and  personally  innocent.  But  just  as  surely 
as  Abel's  firstlings  were  sacrifices  in  his  room  and 
stead,  so  surely  was  Christ  a  sacrifice  "for  us."  Ac- 
cordingly he  is  said  to  have  "offered  himself  without 
spot  to  God."  Heb.  ix.  14.  So  also  Christ  is  called 
"  the  lamb  of  God"  and  "  a  lamb  without  blemish  and 
without  spot."  There  is  no  significancy  in  any  bloody 
sacrifice  unless  the  victim  offered  is  a  substitute  for 
some  one. 

Christ  is  also  called  our  Surety.  Heb.  vii.  22.  A 
surety  binds  himself  to  perform  something  for  others, 
and  this  obligation  is  either  absolute  or  conditional. 
If  one  be  hopelessly  insolvent,  the  surety  uncondi- 
tionally assumes  the  payment  of  his  debts.  This  was 
precisely  our  case.  Our  ruin  was  complete.  We  were 
utterly  bankrupt,  and  Christ  undertook  to  extricate  us, 
1.  by  obeying  the  precept  of  the  law  for  us,  and  2.  by 
enduring  the  punishment  due  to  us  for  our  transgres- 
sions. In  our  helplessness  Christ  pitied  us,  volunta- 
rily and  lovingly  undertook  our  cause  for  us,  was  fully 
able  to  accomplish  all  he  engaged  to  do,  and  did  sa- 
tisfy all  the  demands  of  the  law  against  us  as  rebels. 
The  Scriptures  teach  that  Christ  did  all  this.  "He 
was  manifested  to  take  away  our  sins,  and  in  him  was 
no  sin."  1  John  iii.  5.  He  took  away  our  sins  by 
taking  them  upon  himself.  Accordingly  the  Scrip- 
tures clearly  assert  that  he  "his  own  self  bare  our 
sins  in  his  own  body  on  the  tree."  1  Pet.  ii.  24. 
"  Christ  was  once  offered  to  bear  the  sins  of  many." 
Heb.  x.  28.  No  such  language  is  ever  used  of  any 
other.  Men  bear  their  own  sins  in  many  cases.  But 
Christ  alone  is  the  offering  for  the  sins  of  many,  to 
bear  them  quite  away  as  the  scape-goat  did. 
16 


182  THE   DEATH   OF   CHRIST. 

In  Rom.  viii.  3,  Paul  says :  "  What  the  law  could 
not  do,  in  that  it  was  weak  through  the  flesh,  God 
sending  his  own  Son  in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh  and 
for  sin,  condemned  sin  in  the  flesh."  That  the  word 
here  translated  condemned  means  punished  is  satisfac- 
torily shown  by  Dr.  Hoclge  in  his  commentary.  That 
the  doctrine  thus  taught  is  true  many  Scriptures  de- 
clare. God  then  punished  sin,  not  in  those  who  com- 
mitted it  and  who  deserved  his  wrath,  but  in  the  flesh 
of  his  dear  Son.  In  like  manner  Paul  says :  "  Christ 
hath  redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  being 
made  a  curse  for  us."  Gal.  iii.  13.  If  language  has 
any  force  or  meaning  this  passage  teaches  that  Christ 
has  rescued  his  people  from  the  penalty  of  the  law, 
and  that  he  did  this  by  enduring  the  penalty  in  their 
room  and  stead.  It  is  not  probable  that  any  man, 
who  will  deny  that  these  words  teach  as  much  as  is 
here  supposed,  would  be  profited  by  any  teachings  on 
the  subject,  whether  from  men  or  from  heaven.  The 
curse  of  the  law  can  mean  nothing  but  the  penalty  of 
the  law.  Christ's  being  made  a  curse  for  us  can  mean 
nothing  less  than  that  he  bore  the  penalty  for  us.  The 
Scriptures  also  expressly  teach  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the 
sole  author  of  reconciliation  between  God  and  sinners, 
that  by  him  "  we  have  received  the  atonement"  (or 
reconciliation);  Rom.  v.  11;  that  we  are  "reconciled 
to  God  by  the  death  of  his  Son;"  Rom.  v.  10;  and 
that  God  hath  reconciled  us  to  himself  by  Jesus  Christ." 
2  Cor.  v.  18.  Now  there  is  no  way  that  the  death  of 
God's  Son  could  make  reconciliation  but  by  his  satis- 
fying divine  justice  in  our  place  and  stead.  Christ  is 
our  peace. 

Having  seen  what  Christ  and  his  apostles  taught 


THE   ATONEMENT.  183 

respecting  the  intent  of  his  death,  let  us  look  at  two 
portions  of  the  Old  Testament,  which  have  heen  sup- 
posed to  teach  that  Christ  bore  the  punishment  due  to 
his  people  for  their  sins.  The  first  is  in  the  40th 
Psalm.  "  Sacrifice  and  offering  thou  didst  not  desire ; 
mine  ears  hast  thou  opened  [or  bored,  as  Hebrew  mas- 
ters bored  the  ears  of  their  servants]  :  burnt-offering 
and  sin-offering  hast  thou  not  required.  Then  said  I, 
Lo  I  come,  in  the  volume  of  the  book  it  is  written  of 
me:  I  delight  to  do  thy  will,  0  my  God."  The 
apostle  Paul,  in  Heb.  x.  5 — 12,  has  given  us  an  in- 
spired and  therefore  infallible  interpretation  of  this 
passage.  It  is  fully  coincident  with  what  has  already 
been  argued. 

The  other  portion  of  the  Old  Testament  to  which 
attention  is  here  called  is  the  precious  53d  chapter  of 
Isaiah,  where  many  of  the  forms  of  speech  already 
noticed  occur  and  others  are  introduced,  all  teaching 
that  Christ  was  our  substitute,  that  he  was  punished 
for  us,  that  he  bore  the  wrath  of  God  in  our  stead. 
The  whole  chapter  is  very  dear  to  God's  people.  But 
a  few  quotations  must  suffice :  "  Surely  he  hath  borne 
our  grief  and  carried  our  sorrows,"  v.  4.  William 
Lowth  says  of  this:  "He  hath  borne  the  evils  and 
punishments  which  were  due  to  our  sins.  The  He- 
brew verbs  [rendered  he  liatli  home  and  hat h  carried] 
properly  signify  to  bear  the  punishment  due  to  sin." 
Matthew  Henry  says :  "  The  load  was  heavy,  and  the 
way  long,  yet  he  did  not  tire,  but  persevered  to  the 
end,  till  he  said,  It  is  finished."  Dr.  Scott  says  :  "He 
endured  our  griefs  and  sorrows,  becoming  a  sufferer  to 
redeem  us  from  eternal  sufferings." 

The  fifth  verse  of  the  chapter  reads  thus :  "  But  he 


184  THE   DEATH   OF   CHRIST. 

was  -wounded  for  our  transgressions,  he  was  bruised 
for  our  iniquities  ;  the  chastisement  of  our  peace  was 
upon  him,  and  with  his  stripes  we  are  healed.  "  Lowth 
says,  "  He  suffered  those  chastisements  or  punishments, 
by  which  our  peace  with  God  was  wrought,  and  satis- 
faction was  made  to  the  divine  justice."  Scott  says, 
"  He  was  '  wounded,'  but  it  was  not  for  his  own,  but 
for  our  transgressions ;  he  was  crushed  with  most  in- 
tense agonies  of  body  and  soul,  but  it  was  for  our  ini- 
quities." Dr.  J.  A.  Alexander  says:  "The  chastise- 
ment of  peace  is  not  only  that  which  tends  to  peace, 
but  that  by  which  peace  is  procured  directly." 

"  The  Lord  hath  laid  on  him  the  iniquity  of  us  all," 
v.  6.  Lowth  says  :  "  The  letter  of  the  Hebrew  runs 
thus,  The  Lord  hath  made  the  iniquities  of  us  all  to 
meet  on  him,  or  to  fall  upon  him."  Scott  says,  "The 
justice  of  God  must  be  satisfied,  before  the  criminals 
could  be  again  received  into  his  favour  and  under  his 
care,  and  therefore  Jehovah  laid,  or  '  caused  to  meet* 
upon  Christ,  the  Surety,  not  the  punishment  only,  but 
the  iniquity  of  them  all,  imputing  it  to  him,  and  re- 
quiring of  him  satisfaction  for  it."  Dr.  Alexander 
says  that  our  version  "  is  objectionable  only  because  it 
is  too  weak,  and  suggests  the  idea  of  a  mild  and  inof- 
fensive gesture,  whereas  that  conveyed  by  the  Hebrew 
word  is  necessarily  a  violent  one,  viz.  that  of  causing 
to  strike  or  fall." 

"For  the  transgression  of  my  people  was  he 
stricken,"  v.  8.  Dr.  Alexander  translates  it,  "for  the 
transgressior  of  my  people  (as)  a  curse  for  them." 
Dr.  Scott  says  :  "  For  the  transgression  of  his  people, 
the  stroke  or  punishment  was  on  him." 

"It  pleased  the  Lord  to  bruise  him;  he  hath  put 


THE  ATONEMENT.  185 

him  to  grief ;  when  thou  shalt  make  his  soul  an  offer- 
ing for  sin,"  v.  10.  Surely  none  will  blaspheme  his 
blessed  name  by  saying  that  his  soul  was  an  offering 
for  his  own  sin.  He  was  holy,  harmless,  undented 
and  separate  from  sinners.  As  his  soul  was  the  offer- 
ing also,  and  not  merely  his  body,  so  it  was  the  sword 
of  the  Lord  that  pierced  him  much  more  deeply  than 
the  nails  or  the  spear.  Zech.  xiii.  7.  Awake,  0  sword, 
and  smite  the  man,  that  is  my  fellow,  saith  Jehovah." 

"For  he  shall  bear  their  iniquities,"  v.  11.  Dr. 
Alexander  on  this  verse  remarks  that  Christ  "be- 
comes a  Saviour  only  by  becoming  a  substitute."  His 
people  shall  receive  his  righteousness,  "  and  he  shall 
bear  their  burdens."  Such  is  a  very  brief  view  of  the 
express  and  precious  teachings  of  this  portion  of  God's 
word,  which  makes  Matthew  Henry  say  that  "this 
chapter  is  so  replenished  with  the  unsearchable  riches 
of  Christ,  that  it  may  be  called  rather,  The  Gospel  of 
the  evangelist  Isaiah,  than  the  'prophecy  of  the  prophet 
Isaiah." 

In  teaching  the  imputation  of  our  sins  to  Christ  no 
one  holds  that  there  is  or  could  be  any  personal  iden- 
tity between  Christ  and  his  people.  When  we  say 
that  he  and  they  are  one,  we  mean  that  for  their  sakes 
and  on  their  account,  he  was  regarded  and  treated  as 
if  he  deserved  evil,  and  that  for  his  sake  and  on  his 
account  they  are  regarded  and  treated  as  if  they  were 
innocent  and  deserving  of  good.  Nor  is  it  any  por- 
tion of  sound  doctrine  that  the  moral  turpitude  of  our 
sins  was  transferred  to  Christ.  This,  in  the  nature  of 
things,  is  impossible.  The  moral  qualities  of  personal 
acts  are  confined  to  the  acts  themselves,  or  to  those 
who  perform  them.  The  defilement  of  our  sins  is  not 
16* 


186  THE   DEATH   OF  CHRIST. 

imputed  to  Christ  any  more  than  the  moral  excellence 
of  his  acts  is  imputed  to  us.  Of  course  Christ  felt  no 
consciousness  of  personal  ill-desert,  and  consequently 
no  remorse.  This  was  as  impossible  as  that  we  should 
feel  self-complacency  for  Christ's  righteousness  im- 
puted to  us.  A  surety  is  not  partaker  of  the  misdeed, 
which  has  brought  a  party  into  trouble,  but  he  simply 
agrees  to  pay  the  penalty  or  debt.  Bitter  as  may  be 
the  sufferings  brought  on  us  by  the  sins  of  others,  we 
cannot  upbraid  ourselves  for  having  committed  them. 
Neither  did  our  Saviour  feel  the  fell  gnaw  of  despair. 
0  no.  "For  the  joy  that  was  set  before  him  he  en- 
dured the  cross,  despising  the  shame,  and  is  set  down 
at  the  right  hand  of  God."  Heb.  xii.  2.  Neither  re- 
morse nor  despair  was  the  penalty  denounced  against 
transgression.  The  penalty  was  death.  And  although 
despair  and  remorse  come  on  those,  who  are  personally 
depraved,  yet  this  is  because  they  are  thus  sunk  in 
sin. 

It  may  be  well  also  here  to  say  that  Christ's  suffer- 
ings, though  protracted,  were  not  eternal,  because  of 
the  infinite  dignity  of  his  person.  "The  eternity  of 
punishment,"  says  Charnock,  "arises  from  the  condi- 
tion of  the  subject  suffering,  not  from  the  nature  of 
punishment  itself.  A  creature,  being  a  limited  nature, 
cannot  give  an  infinite  satisfaction  commensurate  to 
an  infinite  justice,  without  suffering  eternally.  There- 
fore though  infinite  punishment  be  due,  yet  eternal 
punishment  is  not  in  itself  due,  but  falls  in,  for  want 
of  the  creature's  ability  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  legal 
justice.  Since  it  cannot  satisfy  the  law  by  one,  or 
many  acts  of  sufferings,  it  is  always  suffering,  but  never 
fully  satisfies :  but  the  infinite  dignity  of  the  person  of 


THE  ATONEMENT.  187 

Christ  transcending  all  creatures,  made  the  satisfaction 
he  offered  valuable  without  an  eternal  duration  of 
those  torments." 

As  our  Saviour  was  a  voluntary  surety  there  was  no 
injustice  in  requiring  of  him  the  satisfaction  due  from 
us.  So  true  and  so  old  is  the  doctrine  that  our 
Lord  suffered  the  just  for  the  unjust,  the  innocent  for 
the  guilty,  that  to  this  day  we  have  no  better  means 
of  illustrating  the  whole  method  of  pardon  and  accept- 
ance than  by  a  simple  explanation  of  many  of  the 
types,  and  especially  the  sacrifices  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. The  doctrine  of  the  imputation  of  the  sin  of 
one  to  the  person  of  another  is  as  old  as  the  institution 
of  shedding  blood  in  solemn  worship,  and  slaying  vic- 
tims at  earthly  altars. 

One  of  the  most  painful  things  in  the  life  of  a  lover 
of  sound  doctrine  is,  that  where  his  own  views  and  feel- 
ings would  lead  him  to  rejoice  and  adore,  he  finds  ca- 
villers calling  him  to  refute  frivolous  objections.  "The 
highest  wonder  ever  exhibited  to  the  world,  to  angels 
and  men,  is  the  Son  of  God  suffering  and  dying  for 
sinners."  But  such  is  the  wickedness  of  men  that  in- 
stead of  being  charmed  and  awed  by  the  glories  of 
redemption  by  Christ  Jesus,  they  often  sit  down  in 
cold  blood,  as  did  his  murderers,  and  without  emotion 
contemplate  the  most  amazing  sufferings  ever  wit- 
nessed. Beware  of  self-conceit,  beware  of  all  opinions 
on  the  subject  of  the  atonement,  unless  you  can  prove 
them  by  the  tenor  of  Scripture. 

Respecting  the  satisfaction  of  Christ  four  views  have 
•been  taken :  1.  That  he  fully  satisfied  all  the  claims  of 
the  law  for  all  men,  and  that  all  shall  therefore  infalli- 
bly be  saved.     This  was  the  doctrine  of  the  old  Uni- 


188  THE   DEATH   OF   CHRIST. 

versalists.  As  it  is  fallen  into  general  disfavour,  fur- 
ther notice  need  not  here  be  taken  of  it.  2.  Another 
theory  is  that  Christ  did  not  satisfy  divine  justice  for 
any  of  the  sins  of  any  man.  In  other  words  there  was 
no  atonement  required  and  none  made.  This  theory 
teaches  that  Christ's  death  was  a  symbol,  a  testimony,  a 
display  of  justice  against  one  on  whom  no  sins  were 
laid.  The  old  Socinians  held  that  Christ's  death  was 
a  mere  martyrdom.  Is  it  not  strange  that  they  should 
thus  hold,  when  our  Lord  gave  signs  of  distress  and 
agony  never  witnessed  in  any  of  his  people  when  called 
to  die  for  the  truth  ?  John  Newton  says,  "  No  words 
can  be  more  select  and  emphatical  than  those  which 
the  evangelists  use  in  describing  his  consternation  in 
the  garden  of  Gethsemane.  How  can  this  his  dejec- 
tion and  terror  be  accounted  for  by  those,  who  deny 
that  his  sufferings  and  death  were  a  proper  atonement 
of  sin ;  and  who  suppose,  that  when  he  had  given  to 
men  a  perfect  rule  of  life,  and  commended  it  to  them 
by  his  own  example,  he  died  merely  to  confirm  the 
truth  of  his  doctrine,  and  to  encourage  his  followers 
to  faithfulness  under  sufferings  ?  Many  of  his  follow- 
ers, who  were  thus  witnesses  for  the  truth,  and  pat- 
terns of  faithfulness  to  us,  have  met  death  in  its  most 
terrible  forms  with  composure,  yea,  with  pleasure, 
yea,  with  transports  of  joy.  But  is  the  disciple  above 
his  Lord  ?  If  Christians  have  triumphed  in  such  cir- 
cumstances, why  did  Christ  tremble  ?  Not  surely  be- 
cause their  constancy  and  courage  were  greater  than 
his.  The  causes  were  entirely  different.  The  mar- 
tyrs were  given  up  to  them,  who  could  kill  the  body 
only ;  but  Jesus  suffered  immediately  from  the  hand 
of  God.     One  stroke  of  his  mighty  hand  can  bruise 


THE  ATONEMENT.  189 

the  spirit  of  man  more  sensibly  than  the  united  power 
of  all  creatures." 

3.  Another  theory  is  that  Christ  satisfied  for  some 
of  the  sins  of  all  men,  and  left  them  by  their  own 
works  and  sufferings  to  satisfy  for  the  rest.  This 
theory  is  seldom  stated  in  so  many  words,  but  it  is 
very  pleasing  to  many,  and  is  the  actual  scheme  of 
thousands.  It  is  virtually  the  plan  of  many  Roman 
Catholics,  who  add  their  own  merits  and  those  of  the 
saints  to  the  merits  of  Christ.  The  Archbishop  of 
Paris  dying  of  wounds,  received  in  fightings,  which 
followed  the  expulsion  of  the  house  of  Orleans,  said : 
"  0  God,  I  offer  to  thee  my  present  sufferings  as  an 
atonement  for  the  errors  of  my  episcopate."  This 
sounds  indeed  as  if  his  own  sufferings  were  his  sole 
reliance;  but  his  creed  mentions  the  sufferings  and 
death  of  Christ. 

4.  The  last  theory  is  that  Jesus  Christ  made  satis- 
faction for  all  the  sins  of  all  his  people,  that  he  paid 
the  last  farthing  of  the  debt  they  owed  to  the  broken 
law  and  injured  government  of  God,  and  that  in  him 
they  are  complete  and  have  full  redemption.  The 
Westminster  Assembly  says :  "  Christ  by  his  death 
did  fully  pay  the  debt  of  all  his  people,  and  did  make 
a  proper,  real,  and  full  satisfaction  to  his  Father's 
justice  in  their  behalf."  The  essence  of  the  atone- 
ment consists  in  this  satisfaction,  which  was  proper, 
not  figurative,  not  emblematical ;  real,  not  imaginary, 
nor  pretended ;  and  full,  not  partial,  nor  incomplete, 
not  needing  our  merits  to  eke  it  out. 

We  have  already  seen  how  well  this  doctrine  agrees 
both  with  the  very  words  and  with  the  general  scope 
of  Scripture.     Were  not  this  chapter  already  long,  it 


190 


THE   DEATH   OF   CHRIST. 


would  "be  easy  to  add  the  concurrent  testimony  of  the 
best  reformed  churches  and  of  many  great  divines. 
Some  of  these  will  hereafter  be  adduced  for  the  pur- 
pose of  illustrating  other  points.  In  the  meantime  the 
foregoing  is  the  plain  simple  doctrine  of  the  atone- 
ment as  held  in  the  Presbyterian  and  many  other 
churches. 


CHAPTER    XXIII 


JUSTIFICATION  BEFORE   GOD. 

No  doctrine  is  more  important  than  that  of  justifi- 
cation before  God.  This  has  long  been  the  judgment 
of  the  Christian  world.  Luther  says :  "  The  article 
of  justification  being  lost,  all  Christian  doctrine 
perishes  "with  it."  He  elsewhere  calls  justification 
"  the  article  of  a  standing  or  falling  church."  Me- 
lancthon  says  :  "  We  are  brought  into  danger  for  the 
only  reason  that  we  deny  the  Romish  doctrine  of  jus- 
tification." Calvin  says:  "If  this  one  head  were 
yielded  safe  and  entire,  it  would  not  pay  the  cost  to 
make  any  great  quarrel  about  other  matters  in  contro- 
versy with  Rome."  Hooker  says  :  "  The  grand  ques- 
tion, that  hangeth  in  controversy  between  us  and 
Rome  is  about  the  matter  of  justifying  righteousness." 
John  Newman  in  his  Salters-Hall  Sermon  says :  "  A 
sinner's  justification  before  God  is  a  doctrine  of  great 
importance  in  the  Christian  religion."  Usher  says: 
"  The  strong  bastion  of  our  Reformed  Church  is  jus- 
tification by  faith  ;  'erected  upon  the  foundation  of  the 
apostles  and  prophets,  Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the 
chief  corner-stone.'  That  gone,  the  temple  is  taken, 
the  ark  is  in  captivity ;  '  from  the  daughter  of  Zion  all 
her  beauty  is  departed.'  "  Bishop  Hall  says  :  "  That 
point  of  justification  of  all  others  is  exceeding  impor- 
tant." John  Newton  says  :  "The  great  privilege  of 
the   elect,  comprehensive  of  every  blessing,  is,  that 

(191) 


192  JUSTIFICATION  BEFORE  GOD. 

they  are  justified,  finally  and  authoritatively  justified." 
Dr.  Thomas  Scott  says :  "  *  How  should  man  be  just 
■with  God?'  All  our  eternal  interests  depend  on  the 
answer,  which,  in  our  creed  and  experience,  we  return 
to  this  question :  for  if  God  hath,  for  the  glory  of  his 
own  name,  law,  and  government,  appointed  a  method 
of  justifying  sinners,  and  revealed  it  in  the  gospel ; 
and  they  in  the  pride  of  their  hearts,  refuse  to  seek 
the  blessing  in  this  way,  but  will  come  for  it  according 
to  their  own  devices  ;  he  may  justly,  and  will  certainly, 
leave  them  under  merited  condemnation."  The  elder 
Edwards  presents  the  following  considerations  in 
proof  of  the  importance  of  the  doctrine  of  justifica- 
tion by  faith  alone  :  1.  "  The  Scripture  treats  of  this 
doctrine  as  a  doctrine  of  very  great  importance." 
2.  "  The  adverse  scheme  lays  another  foundation  of 
man's  salvation  than  God  hath  laid."  3.  "It  is  in 
this  doctrine  that  the  most  essential  difference  lies  be- 
tween the  covenant  of  grace  and  the  first  covenant." 

4.  "  This  is  the  main  thing  for  which  fallen  men  stood 
in  need  of  a  divine  revelation,  to  teach  us  how  we  who 
have  sinned  may  come  to  be  again  accepted  of  God." 

5.  "  The  contrary  scheme  of  justification  derogates 
much   from  the  honour  of   God  and  the  Mediator." 

6.  "  The  opposite  scheme  does  most  directly  tend  to 
lead  men  to  trust  in  their  own  righteousness  for  justi- 
fication, which  is  a  thing  fatal  to  the  soul."  Father 
Paul  tells  us  that  the  Popish  fathers  and  divines  of  the 
Council  of  Trent  admitted  that  all  the  alleged  errors 
of  Luther  could  be  traced  to  his  views  on  justification, 
and  that  the  only  way  to  maintain  the  other  dogmas 
of  Rome  was  "  to  overthrow  the  heresy  of  justification 
by  faith  only."     Socinus  calls  this  doctrine  base  and 


JUSTIFICATION  BEFORE   GOD.  193 

pernicious,  and  says  it  is  to  be  execrated  and  detested. 
Swedenborg  and  his  followers  direct  their  strongest 
efforts  against  this  doctrine.  The  same  is  true  of 
nearly  all  modern  heretics.  So  that  by  the  confession 
of  the  friends  and  the  enemies  of  the  true  doctrine, 
the  views  men  entertain  on  this  subject  are  vastly  im- 
portant and  control  their  belief  on  other  points.  In- 
deed Paul's  epistles  to  the  Romans  and  to  the  Gala- 
tians,  written  chiefly  to  teach  and  establish  the  truth 
on  this  subject,  stand  imperishable  monuments  of  the 
judgment  of  that  great  and  inspired  man  as  to  the 
weighty  matter  of  justification  before  God.  It  could 
not  be  otherwise.  We  rise  or  fall,  we  live  or  die,  we 
are  saved  or  lost,  according  as  we  are  justified,  or  not. 
On  such  a  subject  we  should  conduct  our  inquiries 
with  great  candour,  and  adopt  conclusions  after  much 
prayer  and  in  the  fear  of  God.  He,  who  heartily 
loves  and  adopts  the  truth  here,  may  indeed  be  left  to 
some  other  errors,  which  will  mar  the  symmetry  of  his 
Christian  character,  impair  his  usefulness,  and  diminish 
his  final  reward,  yet  he  shall  not  be  cast  off  at  last. 
But  he,  who  at  heart  rejects  the  true  ground  of  justi- 
fication must  finally,  utterly,  inevitably  perish.  So 
teaches  Paul :  "  Other  foundation  can  no  man  lay  than 
that  is  laid,  which  is  Jesus  Christ.  Now  if  any  man 
build  upon  this  foundation,  gold,  silver,  precious  stones, 
wood,  hay,  stubble  ;  every  man's  work  shall  be  made 
manifest;  for  the  day  shall  declare  it,  because  it  shall 
be  revealed  by  fire ;  and  the  fire  shall  try  every  man's 
work,  of  what  sort  it  is.  If  any  man's  work  abide 
which  he  hath  built  thereupon,  he  shall  receive  a  re- 
ward. If  any  man's  work  shall  be  burned,  he  shall 
17 


194  JUSTIFICATION   BEFORE   GOD. 

suffer  loss :  but  he  himself  shall  be  saved ;  yet  so  as 
by  fire."  1  Cor.  iii.  11 — 15.  This  settles  the  question. 
Justification  is  the  opposite  of  condemnation. 
"Whatever  one  is,  the  other  is  not.  In  Scripture  they 
are  often  set  over  against  each  other.  "By  thy 
words  thou  shalt  be  justified,  and  by  thy  words,  thou 
shalt  be  condemned."  Matt.  xii.  37.  "He  that/wsfa- 
fieth  the  wicked,  and  he  that  condemneth  the  just, 
even  they  both  are  abomination  to  the  Lord."  Prov. 
xvii.  15.  "  If  there  be  a  controversy  between  men, 
and  they  come  unto  judgment,  that  the  judges  may 
judge  them ;  then  they  shall  justify  the  righteous,  and 
condemn  the  wicked."  Deut.  xxv.  1.  "  If  I  justify 
myself,  mine  own  mouth  shall  condemn  me."  Job  ix. 
20.  "  As  by  the  offence  of  one,  judgment  came  upon 
all  men  to  condemnation,  even  so  by  the  righteousness 
of  one  the  free  gift  came  upon  all  men  to  justification 
of  life.'"  Rom.  v.  18.  These  texts  not  only  show  that 
condemnation  and  justification  are  opposite  to  each 
other,  but  that  these  two  words  are  borrowed  from 
judicial  proceedings,  and  so  are  properly  said  to  be 
forensic.  Justifying  is  declaring  or  pronouncing  one 
righteous,  as  condemning  is  pronouncing  or  declaring 
one  guilty.  Often  in  Scripture  these  terms  are  said 
to  belong  to  judicature,  as  in  Psa.  xxxvii.  33,  "  The 
Lord  will  not  condemn  him  ivhen  he  is  judged  ;"  Matt. 
xii.  42,  "  The  queen  of  the  south  shall  rise  up  in  the 
judgment  with  this  generation  and  shall  condemn  it ;" 
Psa.  cix.  7,  "When  he  shall  be  judged,  let  him  be 
condemned  ;"  Psa.  li.  4,  "  That  thou  mightest  be  justi- 
fied, when  thou  speakest,  and  be  clear,  when  thou 
judgest."  Yet,  while  the  term  is  borrowed  from  the 
forum,  it  is  not  used  precisely  in  the  same  sense  in 


JUSTIFICATION   BEFORE    GOD.  195 

theology  as  when  we  apply  it  to  judicial  proceedings 
among  men.  At  a  human  tribunal  a  man  is  said  to  be 
justified,  when  no  crime  has  been  proven  against  him, 
but  his  conduct  has  met  with  the  approval  of  those  by 
whom  he  was  judged.  But  when  a  man  is  said  to  be 
justified  before  God,  the  meaning  is  that  a  sinner  has 
been  'pardoned  and  accepted  in  the  Beloved.  Had  man 
never  sinned,  he  would  have  been  justified  as  one,  who 
had  broken  no  law,  and  would  have  needed  no  pardon. 
But  being  a  law-breaker,  any  trial  in  the  sight  of  God 
will  show  him  culpable,  and  in  himself  undone.  If  a 
sinner  is  justified,  it  must  be  by  an  act  of  grace. 

The  Westminster  Assembly  thus  taught :  "  Justifi- 
cation is  an  act  of  God's  free  grace  unto  sinners,  in 
which  he  pardoneth  all  their  sin,  accepteth  and  ac- 
counteth  their  persons  righteous,  in  his  sight ;  not  for 
anything  wrought  in  them  or  done  by  them,  but  only 
for  the  perfect  obedience  and  full  satisfaction  of  Christ, 
by  God  imputed  to  them,  and  received  by  faith  alone." 
You  will  hardly  find  a  better  definition  than  this  in 
uninspired  writings.  It  is  true,  complete,  guarded, 
comprehensive.  Let  us  consider  it  somewhat  in  detail. 
First,  justification  is  an  act.  It  is  not  a  work,  or 
series  of  acts.  It  is  not  progressive.  The  weakest 
believer  and  the  strongest  saint  are  alike  and  equally 
justified.  Justification  admits  of  no  degrees.  A  man  is 
either  wholly  justified  or  wholly  condemned  in  the  sight 
of  God.  "  There  is  therefore  now  NO  condemnation  to 
them,  which  are  in  Christ  Jesus."  a  Who  shall  lay 
anything  to  the  charge  of  God's  elect  ?"  Rom.  viii. 
1,  33.  And  when  a  soul  is  condemned  it  is  wholly  con- 
demned. "Whosoever  shall  keep  the  whole  law,  and 
yet  offend  in  one  point,  he  is  guilty  of  all."  James 


196  JUSTIFICATION  BEFORE  GOD. 

ii.  10.  "The  soul  that  sinneth,  IT  shall  die."  Ezek. 
xviii.  4.  When  it  is  said  in  Luke  xviii.  14,  that  the 
publican  "  went  down  to  his  house  justified  rather  than 
the"  pharisee,  it  does  not  mean  that  the  pharisee  was 
somewhat  justified  and  the  publican  more  justified. 
The  sense  is  that  the  former  was  justified  in  preference 
to  the  other,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  other.  The  pub- 
lican was  perfectly  justified,  the  pharisee  was  not  at 
all  justified.  There  is  a  moment,  when  a  man  is  under 
the  curse,  and  a  moment  when  he  comes  to  be  under 
grace. 

Secondly,  justification  is  an  act  of  God.  He  alone 
is  its  author.  He  is  called  "  the  Justifier."  "  It  is 
God  that  justifieth."  "  It  is  one  God  which  shall  jus- 
tify the  circumcision  by  faith,  and  uncircumcision 
through  faith."  Rom.  iii.  26,  30,  and  viii.  33.  We 
should  not  forget  this  great  truth.  We  may  justify 
ourselves,  our  neighbours  may  call  us  the  excellent  of 
the  earth,  pretended  priests  of  God  may  blasphe- 
mously pronounce  us  absolved  from  all  sin,  but  all 
this  will  avail  us  nothing  ;  "  for  the  Lord  seeth  not  as 
man  seeth ;  for  man  looketh  on  the  outward  appear- 
ance, but  the  Lord  looketh  on  the  heart."  1  Sam.  xvi. 
17.  Christ  said  to  some,  "  Ye  are  they  which  justify 
yourselves  before  men ;  but  God  knoweth  your  hearts : 
for  that  which  is  highly  esteemed  among  men  is  abom- 
ination in  the  sight  of  God."  Luke  xvi.  15.  More- 
over it  is  one  of  the  highest  prerogatives  of  sovereignty 
to  condemn  and  to  justify.  As  it  is  God's  government 
we  live  under,  as  it  is  his  law  that  we  have  broken,  as 
it  is  his  Son  that  died,  as  it  is  his  tribunal,  before  which 
we  must  all  appear,  so  it  is  right  that  he  and  not  another 
should  pass  sentence  upon  us.     The  governor  of  one 


JUSTIFICATION   BEFORE  GOD.  197 

state,  or  the  king  of  one  country  cannot  punish  or 
pardon  an  offence  committed  in  the  territorial  limits 
of  another.  It  is  beyond  his  jurisdiction.  In  the 
moral  government  of  the  universe,  God's  authority  is 
sole,  supreme,  exclusive.  He  alone  is  the  Lawgiver, 
he  alone  is  the  Judge.  No  one  has  jurisdiction  but 
himself.  None  can  really  or  effectually  justify  or  con- 
demn but  he. 

Thirdly,  justification  is  more  than  is  of  right  due  to 
any  man.  He  is  a  sinner,  and  whatever  good  thing 
comes  to  him  must  be  of  God's  mere  bounty.  It  is  a 
gratuity,  not  a  debt.  So  justification  is  "  an  act  of 
God's  FPvEE  grace  unto  sinners."  Considered  in 
regard  to  holy  angels,  justification  would  have  another 
signification.  They  have  no  sins  to  pardon.  Their 
innocence  is  their  shield.  In  the  eye  of  the  divine 
law  they  stand  on  the  ground  of  perfect,  personal, 
perpetual  obedience.  But  the  question  is  not,  How 
are  holy  angels  justified  ?  but,  How  shall  man  be  just 
with  God  ?  Had  man  never  sinned  he  would  have 
stood  justified  in  the  same  way  as  his  elder  brethren 
in  glory.  Indeed  the  natural  method  of  justification 
for  all  accountable  creatures  is  by  personal  righteous- 
ness, but  since  man  became  a  sinner,  this  door  is  shut 
up,  and  cherubim  and  a  flaming  sword  forbid  his  en- 
trance into  life  by  that  method.  The  Scripture  does 
not  deny  that  angels  stand  before  God  by  their  works. 
But  it  does  say :  "  By  the  deeds  of  the  law  there 
shall  no  flesh  be  justified  in  his  sight;"  "a  max  is 
not  justified  by  the  works  of  the  law  :"  "  by  the  works 
of  the  law  shall  no  flesh  be  justified."  Rom.  iii.  20, 
and  Gal.  ii.  16.  Paul  expressly  teaches  that  God 
"justifieth  the  ungodly."  Bom.  iv.  5.  To  say  that 
17* 


198  JUSTIFICATION  BEFORE  GOD. 

the  power  of  sight  in  the  blind,  whose  eyes  Christ 
opened,  was  the  cause  of  the  miracle  by  which  they 
obtained  vision  is  absurd.  Their  ability  to  see  came 
only  from  the  love  and  power  of  the  Son  of  God.  To 
say  that  a  sound  condition  of  the  body  was  the  cause 
of  the  expulsion  of  the  fever  from  the  veins  of  Peter's 
wife's  mother,  is  to  speak  foolishness.  That  disease 
was  removed  by  Christ  alone.  Health  did  not  pre- 
cede, it  followed  the  act  of  Christ.  So  God  looks  on 
sinners  as  ungodly,  and  in  their  ruin  he  pities  them, 
and  graciously  pardons  and  accepts  them.  This  doc- 
trine must  be  insisted  on  at  all  times  and  at  all  hazards 
for  three  reasons.  First,  it  is  the  only  doctrine,  which 
can  properly  be  called  Gospel,  good  news  to  sinners ; 
secondly,  God's  honour  is  more  completely  staked  on 
the  maintenance,  propagation  and  reception  of  this 
than  of  any  other  doctrine  of  revealed  religion ; 
thirdly,  this  is  the  only  doctrine,  which  produces  genu- 
ine holiness  of  heart  and  life. 

Three  points  of  the  definition  of  justification  quoted 
have  been  considered.  Four  others,  viz. :  the  pardon 
of  sin,  the  acceptance  of  the  sinner  in  Christ,  the  im- 
putation of  Christ's  righteousness,  and  the  oflice  of 
faith  in  justification,  remain  to  be  considered.  Each 
of  these  is  vastly  important,  and  shall  be  distinctly 
treated.  In  the  mean  time  let  every  one  exalt  the  lov- 
ing-kindness of  him,  who  allows  us  to  hope  for  full  jus- 
tification by  the  blood  and  righteousness  of  the  great 
Redeemer.  If  ever  glad  tidings  of  great  joy  reached 
the  ears  of  mortals,  here  it  is :  "  Being  justified  by 
faith,  we  have  peace  with  God,  through  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ." 


CHAPTER   XXIV 


JUSTIFICATION. — THE    PARDON    OF   SIN    BY    CHRIST  S 
BLOOD. 

To  holy  angels  innocence  is  a  sweet  word.  But  to 
humble,  penitent  sinners  forgiveness  is  music  and  life. 
In  itself  the  former  is  better  than  the  latter,  as  unin- 
terrupted health  is  better  than  recovery  from  sickness, 
unbroken  friendship  better  than  quarrels  followed  by 
reconciliations.  Yet  such  is  the  wisdom  of  God  in 
man's  salvation  that  forgiveness  has  a  sweetness  and 
will  be  followed  by  glories,  which  never  belonged  to 
innocence.  By  the  incarnation  of  Christ  human  na- 
ture is  married  to  the  divine,  and  is  thus  exalted  to  a 
seat  on  the  throne  of  the  universe.  And  as  Christ  has 
shown  by  three  parables  that  it  is  common  to  men  to 
rejoice  more  over  one  thing  lost  and  recovered,  than 
over  ninety  and  nine  things  never  lost,  so  we  may  for 
ever  rejoice  unspeakably  more  over  a  lost  paradise 
regained,  than  we  should  have  done  over  a  paradise 
never  lost.  Surely  the  sweetest  songs  ever  warbled, 
the  most  thrilling  anthems  ever  sung,  the  loudest  Al- 
leluiahs  ever  thundered  relate  to  redemption  and  for- 
giveness, to  salvation  and 

The  Lamb,  the  Lamb,  the  loving  Lamb, 
The  Lamb,  that  died  on  Calvary. 

Should  such,  however,  be  the  result,  it  will  not  be  be- 
cause sin  is  not  in  its  own  nature  ineffably  mischievous 
(199) 


200  JUSTIFICATION. 

and  malignant ;  but  solely  because  Jehovah  is  infinite 
in  skill  and  love,  bringing  light  out  of  darkness,  joy 
out  of  sorrow,  good  out  of  evil.  Marvellous  is  his 
loving-kindness.  Plenteous  is  he  in  mercy.  God  alone 
is  great. 

Many  words  in  Scripture  point  towards  forgiveness, 
such  as  grace,  mercy,  peace  with  God,  not  imputing 
iniquity,  taking  away  sin,  bearing  sin,  making  an  end 
of  transgression,  covering  sin,  forgetting  sin,  not  re- 
membering iniquity,  washing,  cleansing  and  removing 
sin,  casting  it  into  the  sea,  or  behind  the  back,  scat- 
tering it  like  a  cloud,  burying  it,  blotting  it  out,  par- 
doning it.  When  the  scape-goat  bore  away  the  sins 
laid  upon  him  to  a  land  not  inhabited,  he  only  did  in  a 
figure  what  Jesus  does  in  fulfilment  of  this  and  many 
other  types.  In  the  Old  Testament  the  word  often 
rendered  atonement  is  literally  "covering,"  or  cover- 
ing up.  As  we  bury  our  dead  out  of  our  sight,  so  God 
buries  the  sins  of  believers  out  of  Ms  sight.  In  old 
times  accounts  were  often  kept  on  tables  of  wax,  and 
when  a  debt  was  paid  or  forgiven,  the  account  was 
blotted  out  by  rubbing  a  smooth  surface  over  it.  So 
God  cancels  our  debts,  blots  out  the  handwriting  that 
was  against  us,  not  because  we  have  paid  what  we 
owed  or  any  part  of  it,  but  because  he  pities  us  and  is 
rich  in  mercy  towards  us.  "When  a  master  does  not 
wish  to  notice  the  errors  of  a  servant,  he  turns  his 
head  another  way.  So  God  hides  his  face  from  our 
sins,  and  refuses  to  "  behold  iniquity  in  Jacob,"  or  to 
'•see  perverseness  in  Israel."  Num.  xxiii.  21.  Yea 
God  hides  our  sins  themselves,  not  from  his  omni- 
science, for  that  is  impossible,  but  from  his  punitive 
justice.     "  In  those  days,  and  in  that  time,  saith  the 


THE  PARDON  OF  SIN  BY  CHRIST'S  BLOOD.         201 

Lord,  the  iniquity  of  Israel  shall  be  sought  for,  and 
there  shall  be  none ;  and  the  sins  of  Judah,  and  they 
shall  not  be  found :  for  I  will  pardon  them  whom  I 
reserve."  Jer.  1.  20.  As  a  man  ceases  to  brood  over 
an  offence,  which  he  has  forgiven,  and  does  not  wish 
to  cherish  a  remembrance  of  it,  so  says  God :  "  Their 
sins  and  iniquities  will  I  remember  no  more."  Heb.  x. 
17.  And  as  a  thing,  which  might  do  a  child  harm,  is 
put  far  from  it,  so  God's  people  sing :  "As  far  as  the 
east  is  from  the  west,  so  far  hath  he  removed  our  trans- 
gressions from  us."  Psa.  ciii.  12.  The  Scripture  fully 
informs  us  that  our  hope  of  pardon  is  in  God  alone. 
"  To  the  Lord  our  God  belong  mercies  and  forgive- 
nesses, though  we  have  rebelled  against  him."  Dan. 
ix.  9.  It  no  less  distinctly  lets  us  know  that  in  par- 
doning us  God  is  self-moved  to  so  gracious  an  act :  "  I, 
even  I,  am  he  that  blotteth  out  thy  transgressions  for 
mine  own  sake,  and  will  not  remember  thy  sins."  Isa. 
xliii.  25.  The  forgiveness  of  sins  is  free.  It  is  "  with- 
out money  and  without  price."  We  can  do  nothing  to 
merit  it,  or  prepare  ourselves  for  it.  To  deserve  for- 
giveness is  a  solecism  in  language,  an  absurdity  in  law, 
a  heresy  in  doctrine,  and  an  impossibility  in  practice. 
When  God  pardons,  he  pardons  all  sins,  original  sin 
and  actual  sin,  sins  of  omission  and  of  commission, 
secret  and  open  sins,  sins  of  thought,  word  and  deed. 
One  unpardoned  sin  would  destroy  a  soul  for  ever.  A 
single  transgression  can  rouse  an  enlightened  con- 
science to  the  wildest  fury.  And  "every  sin  deserves 
the  wrath  and  curse  of  God  both  in  this  life,  and  in 
that  which  is  to  come."  Yet  to  those,  who  believe  in 
Jesus,  all  is  freely  forgiven.  Full  pardon,  or  none  at 
all,  is  what  God  designs  to  give.     This  suits  human 


202  JUSTIFICATION. 

necessities.  Nor  is  this  gift  ever  revoked  by  God. 
When  he  forgives,  he  forgives  for  ever.  He,  who  is 
once  pardoned,  never  again  comes  under  the  curse  of 
the  law.  Upon  new  provocations  men  sometimes  re- 
vive old  controversies.  Not  so  God.  Sin  once  par- 
doned bj  him  is  done  with  for  ever.  He  has  cast  it 
behind  his  back  and  will  not  return  to  search  for  it. 
Forgiveness  of  sins  that  are  past  is  a  sure  pledge  that 
future  sins  shall  not  have  a  condemning  power.  God 
forgives  no  sin  until  it  is  committed,  but  he  executes 
his  unchanging  purposes  of  love  to  his  people  and  judi- 
cially forgives  their  sins  as  soon  as  committed.  2  Sam. 
xii.  13.  This  does  not  screen  them  from  fatherly  chas- 
tisement for  their  good  and  his  glory ;  but  they  never 
come  into  penal  condemnation.  At  no  time  are  be- 
lievers under  the  law  as  a  covenant  of  works,  but  they 
are  always  under  grace. 

Christ  is  set  upon  the  hill  of  Zion  to  grant  repent- 
ance and  remission  of  sins.  The  moving  cause  of  for- 
giveness is  his  boundless  love ;  but  the  procuring  cause 
is  his  own  most  precious  blood.  "  Without  shedding 
of  blood  is  no  remission."  "  By  his  own  blood  he  en- 
tered in  once  into  the  holy  place,  having  obtained  eter- 
nal redemption  for  us."  "  The  blood  of  Christ,  who 
through  the  eternal  Spirit  offered  himself  without  spot 
to  God,  shall  purge  your  conscience  from  dead  works 
to  serve  the  living  God."  We  have  "boldness  to 
enter  into  the  holiest  by  the  blood  of  Jesus,  by  a  new 
and  living  way,  which  he  hath  consecrated  for  us, 
through  the  veil,  that  is  to  say,  his  flesh."  Heb.  ix.  12, 
14,  22,  and  x.  19,  20.  "  As  for  thee  also,  by  the  blood 
of  thy  covenant  I  have  sent  forth  thy  prisoners  out  of 
the  pit  wherein  is  no  water."  Zech.  ix.  11.     "This  is 


THE  PARDON  OF  SIN  BY  CHRIST'S  ELOOD.         203 

my  blood  of  the  New  Testament,  which  is  shed  for 
many  for  the  remission  of  sins."  Matt.  xxvi.  28. 
"  Being  justified  by  his  blood,  we  shall  be  saved  from 
wrath  through  him."  Eom.  v.  9.  "In  whom  we  have 
redemption  through  his  blood,  the  forgiveness  of  sins, 
according  to  the  riches  of  his  grace."  "In  Christ 
Jesus,  ye,  who  sometime  were  far  off,  are  made  nigh 
by  the  blood  of  Christ."  Eph.  i.  7,  and  ii.  13.  He 
has  "  made  peace  through  the  blood  of  his  cross."  Col. 
i.  20.  "The  blood  of  Christ  his  Son  cleanseth  us 
from  all  sin."  1  John  i.  7.  So  that  nothing  but  ex- 
treme ignorance  or  extraordinary  wickedness  can  in- 
duce a  poor  sinner  to  venture  near  to  God  except 
through  the  blood  of  Christ.  By  his  stripes  we  are 
healed.  By  his  chastisement  is  our  peace.  By  his 
sorrows  come  our  joys.  By  his  death  is  our  life.  As 
our  Surety  he  pays  all  our  debt.  As  the  lamb  of 
God  he  takes  away  the  sins  of  the  world.  By  his  ex- 
piation we  go  free.  No  man  is  truly  blessed  till  he 
has  this  blessing,  the  pardon  of  sin.  It  is  the  pledge 
and  forerunner  of  all  others.  It  is  a  fountain  of  life. 
It  takes  away  the  sting  of  death.  Augustine  says  : 
"All  my  hope  is  in  the  death  of  my  Lord.  His  death 
is  my  merit,  my  refuge,  my  salvation,  my  life  and  my 
resurrection.  The  mercy  of  the  Lord  is  my  merit ;  I 
am  not  without  merit,  so  long  as  the  Lord  of  mercies 
is  not  wanting.  And  if  the  mercies  of  the  Lord  be 
many,  I  abound  in  merits."  Again,  "the  certainty 
of  our  whole  confidence  consists  in  the  blood  of  Christ." 
The  blood  of  sprinkling  speaketh  better  things  than 
the  blood  of  Abel.  That  called  for  vengeance,  this 
for  peace.  How  highly  the  people  of  God  prize  this 
blessing  of  forgiveness  may  be  learned  from  their  his- 


204  JUSTIFICATION. 

tory  in  all  ages :  "  Blessed  is  he  whose  transgression 
is  forgiven,  and  whose  sin  is  covered.  Blessed  is  the 
man  to  whom  the  Lord  imputeth  not  iniquity."  Psa. 
xxxii.  1,  2.  In  enumerating  the  benefits  he  had  re- 
ceived, David  puts  this  first.  "  Bless  the  Lord,  0  my 
soul,  and  forget  not  all  his  benefits :  who  forgiveth  all 
thine  iniquities."  Psa.  ciii.  2,  3.  So  the  Church  of 
God  has  always  held.  The  Confession  of  France  says  : 
"  We  affirm,  that  Jesus  Christ  is  our  perfect  and  en- 
tire washing ;  in  whose  death  we  obtain  full  satisfac- 
tion ;  whereby  we  are  delivered  from  all  those  sins, 
whereof  we  are  guilty,  and  from  which  we  could  not 
be  acquitted  by  any  other  remedy."  That  of  Eng- 
land says  :  "  Our  only  succour  and  refuge  is  to  fly  to 
the  mercy  of  our  Father  by  Jesus  Christ,  and  as- 
suredly to  persuade  our  minds,  that  he  is  the  obtainer 
of  forgiveness  for  our  sins ;  and  that,  by  his  blood,  all 
our  spots  of  sin  be  washed  clean ;  that  he  hath  paci- 
fied, and  set  at  one,  all  things  by  the  blood  of  his 
cross."  That  of  Scotland:  "  We  confess  and  avow, 
that  there  remaineth  no  other  sacrifice  for  sin ;  (Heb. 
x.  26,)  which  if  any  affirm,  we  nothing  doubt  to  avow, 
that  they  are  blasphemous  against  Christ's  death,  and 
the  everlasting  purgation  and  satisfaction  purchased 
to  us  by  the  same."  That  of  Belgia  :  "  We  account 
all  things  as  dung,  in  respect  of  the  excellency  of  the 
knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord,  finding,  in  his 
wounds  and  stripes,  all  manner  of  comfort  that  can  be 
desired.  Wherefore,  there  is  no  need,  that  either  we 
should  wish  for  any  other  means,  or  devise  any  of  our 
own  brains,  whereby  we  might  be  reconciled  unto  God, 
besides  this  one  oblation  once  offered,  by  which  all 
the  faithful,  which  are  sanctified,  are  consecrated,  or 


THE  PARDON  OF  SIN  BY  CHRIST  S  ELOOD.         XVb 

perfected  for  ever."  That  of  Augsburg  teaches  that 
Christ,  "who  was  born  of  the  virgin  Mary,  did  truly 
suffer,  was  crucified,  dead  and  buried,  that  he  might 
reconcile  his  Father  unto  us,  and  might  be  a  sacrifice, 
not  only  for  the  original  sin,  but  also  for  all  actual 
sins,  of  men." 

It  is  worthy  of  special  notice  that  the  nearness  of 
death  makes  the  pardon  of  sin  and  the  blood  of  Christ 
very  precious  to  the  souls  of  good  men.  The  Rev. 
Dr.  Cornelius  on  his  death-bed  said  :  "  The  impression 
has  been  on  my  mind  for  these  last  three  days,  that 
this  is  my  final  sickness ;  and  I  bless  God  that  I  can 
look  forward  to  the  change  before  me  with  composure 
and  hope.  I  feel  that  I  am  a  poor  sinner ;  I  need  to 
be  washed  from  head  to  foot  in  the  blood  of  atonement 
(this  last  was  uttered  with  the  most  affecting  solemnity) 
— but  I  hope  I  may  be  saved  through  the  blood  of 
Christ.  Within  the  last  year  and  especially  of  late, 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  has  been  becoming  more  and 
more  precious  to  my  soul.  I  feel  that  I  can  commit 
my  immortal  all  to  him ;  and  here  I  wish  to  bear  my 
dying  testimony  that  I  go  to  the  judgment,  relying  on 
nothing  but  the  blood  of  Christ.  Without  that  I 
should  have  no  hope." 
18 


CHAPTER    XXV. 


JUSTIFICATION. — ACCEPTANCE   IN    CHRIST. 

It  is  an  error  of  some  that  they  make  our  entire 
justification  to  consist  in  the  pardon  of  sin.  It  is  not 
here  denied  that  by  a  well-known  figure  of  speech  re- 
mission, pardon  and  forgiveness,  are  each  sometimes 
put  for  the  whole  of  justification,  just  as  fear,  love  and 
faith  are  each  put  for  the  whole  of  religion,  and  just 
as  the  cross  of  Christ  is  spoken  of  to  signify  the  whole 
system  of  truths  essentially  connected  with  the  cross. 
But  precious  as  is  the  gift  of  pardon,  and  certainly  as 
it  is  accompanied  by  acceptance  in  the  Beloved,  yet  it 
is  not  itself  such  acceptance.  Our  case  demands  more 
than  mere  remission.  Bare  pardon  would  save  us 
from  hell.  It  could  give  us  no  title  to  heaven.  It 
would  bar  the  gates  of  death,  but  it  would  not  open 
the  gates  of  life.  It  breaks  oif  our  chains  and  opens 
our  prison  doors,  but  it  does  not  beauteously  array  us, 
and  send  us  forth  in  the  garments  of  salvation.  It  de- 
stroys the  fear  and  takes  away  the  pains  of  hell,  but 
gives  not  the  hope  of  glory,  nor  secures  the  rewards 
of  grace.  Pardon  turns  the  rebel  loose,  but  it  does 
not  authorize  him  to  sit  at  the  table  of  the  king.  It 
secures  to  us  remission ;  we  want  admission  to  the  di- 
vine favour.  Pardon  brings  us  out  of  Egypt.  Ac- 
ceptance enfeoffs  us  in  Canaan.  Pardon  causes  us  to 
(20G) 


JUSTIFICATION — ACCEPTANCE  IN  CHRIST.         207 

cease  to  be  heirs  of  hell.     Acceptance  makes  us  heirs 
of  heaven.     It  is  also  freely  granted  that  forgiveness 
and  acceptance,  remission  and  a  title  to  eternal  glory 
are  never  separated,  though  they  are  distinct  and  dif- 
ferent ;  just  as  faith,   hope  and  love  are  never  sepa- 
rated, yet  no  man  will  contend  that  they  are  the  same 
Christian  virtues.     As  many  as  God  pardons,  he  ac- 
cepts in  Christ,  regenerates,  sanctifies  and  glorifies. 
A  separate  link  of  this  blessed  chain  is  never  found, 
yet  each  link  is  distinct.     As  this  distinction  is  highly 
important,  and  the  opposition  to  it  sometimes  violent 
and  scornful,  it  may  be  well  to  give  the  views  of  those, 
whose  names  are  of  weight  with  nearly  all  good  men. 
It  is  strange  that  such  hatred  of  the  precious  truth  of 
God  should  ever  be  indulged,  but  the  friends  of  sound 
doctrine  cannot  abandon  the  defence  of  that,  which  is 
so  precious.     It   is    their   life.     Calvin   says :    "  We 
simply  explain  justification  to  be  an  acceptance,  by 
which  God  receives  us  into  his  favour,  and  esteems  us 
as  righteous  persons ;  and  we  say  it  consists  in  the 
remission  of  sins  and  the  imputation  of  the  righteous- 
ness of  Christ."     Owen  says  :  "  Had  we  not  been  sin- 
ners, we  should  have  had  no  need  of  the  imputation  of 
the  righteousness  of  Christ  to  render  us  righteous  be- 
fore God.     Being  so,  the  first  end  for  which  it  is  im- 
puted is  the  pardon  of  sin ;  without  which  we  could  not 
be  righteous  by  the  imputation   of  the  most  perfect 
righteousness.     These  things  therefore  are  consistent, 
namely  that  the  satisfaction  of  Christ  should  be  im- 
puted unto  us  for  the  pardon  of  sin,  and  the  obedience 
of  Christ  be  imputed  unto  us  to  render  us  righteous 
before  God.     And  they  are  not  only  consistent,   but 
neither  of  them  singly  were  sufficient  unto  our  justifi- 


208         JUSTIFICATION — ACCEPTANCE  IN  CHRIST. 

cation.''  How  precious  such  doctrine  is,  Low  faith 
lays  hold  of  it  as  with  both  hands  !  Bishop  Hopkins 
says :  "  It  is  not  therefore,  0  my  sou],  a  mere  nega- 
tive mercy  that  God  intends  thee  in  the  pardon  of  thy 
sins :  it  is  not  merely  the  removing  of  the  curse  and 
wrath,  which  thy  sins  have  deserved,  though  that  alone 
can  never  be  sufficiently  admired.  But  the  same 
hand,  that  plucks  thee  out  of  hell  by  pardoning  grace 
and  mercy,  lifts  thee  up  to  heaven  by  what  it  gives 
thee  together  with  thy  pardon,  even  a  right  and  title 
to  the  glorious  inheritance  of  saints  above.'' 

It  is  very  strange  that  some  should  deny  that  the 
elder  Edwards  maintained  this  view,  when  in  his  ser- 
mon on  justification  he  gives  it  great  prominence,  and 
that  in  the  early  part  of  the  discourse.  His  language 
is:  "A  person  is  said  to  be  justified,  when  he  is  ap- 
proved of  God  as  free  from  the  guilt  of  sin  and  its  de- 
served punishment,  and  as  having  that  righteousness 
belonging  to  him  that  entitles  to  the  reward  of  life. 
That  we  should  take  the  word  in  such  a  sense,  and 
understand  it  as  the  judge's  accepting  a  person  as 
having  both  a  negative  and  positive  righteousness  be- 
longing to  him,  and  looking  on  him  therefore  as  not 
only  free  from  any  obligation  to  punishment,  but  also 
as  just  and  righteous,  and  so  entitled  to  a  positive 
reward,  is  not  only  most  agreeable  to  the  etymology 
and  natural  import  of  the  word,  which  signifies  to  pass 
one  for  righteous  in  judgment,  but  also  manifestly 
agreeable  to  the  force  of  the  word  as  used  in  Scripture. 

"  Some  suppose  that  nothing  more  is  intended  in 
Scripture  by  justification,  than  barely  the  remission  of 
sins.  If  so,  it  is  very  strange,  if  we  consider  the  na- 
ture of  the  case ;  for  it  is  most  evident  and  none  will 


JUSTIFICATION — ACCEPTANCE  IN  CHRIST.         209 

deny,  that  it  is  with  respect  to  the  rule  or  law  of  God 
we  are  under,  that  we  are  said  in  Scripture  to  be  either 
justified  or  condemned.     Now  what  is  it  to  justify  a 
person  as  the  subject  of  a  law  or  rule,  but  to  judge 
him  as  standing  right  with  regard  to  that  rule  ?     To 
justify  a  person  in  a  particular  case,  is  to  approve  of 
him  as  standing  right,  as  subject  to  the  law  in  that 
case  ;  and  to  justify  in  general  is  to  pass  him  in  judg- 
ment, as  standing  right  in  a  state  correspondent  to  the 
law  or  rule  in  general ;  but  certainly,  in  order  to  a 
person's  being  looked  on  as  standing  right  with  respect 
to  the  rule  in  general,  or  in  a  state  corresponding  with 
the  law  of  God,  more  is  needful  than  not  having  the 
guilt  of  sin ;  for  whatever  that  law  is,  whether  a  new 
or  an  old  one,  doubtless  something  positive  is  needed 
in  order  to  its  being  answered.     We  are  no  more  jus- 
tified by  the  voice  of  the  law,  or  of  him  that  judges 
according  to  it,  by  a  mere  pardon  of  sin,  than  Adam, 
our  first  surety,  was  justified  by  the  law,  at  the  first 
point  of  his  existence,  before  he  had  fulfilled  the  obe- 
dience of  the  law,  or  had  so  much  as  any  trial  whether 
he  would  fulfil  it  or  no.     If  Adam  had  finished  his 
course  of  perfect  obedience,  he  would  have  been  justi- 
fied ;  and  certainly  his  justification  would  have  implied 
something  more   than  what   is    merely    negative ;  he 
would  have  been  approved  of,  as  having  fulfilled  the 
righteousness  of  the  law,  and  accordingly  would  have 
been  adjudged  to  the  reward   of  it.     So  Christ,  our 
second  surety,  (in  whose  justification  all,  whose  surety 
he  is,  are  virtually  justified)  was  not  justified  till  he 
had  done  the  work  the  Father  had  appointed  him,  and 
kept  the  Father's  commandments  through  all  trials ; 
and  then  in  his  resurrection  he  was  justified.     When 
18* 


210        JUSTIFICATION — ACCEPTANCE  IN  CHRIST. 

he  had  been  put  to  death  in  the  flesh,  but  quickened 
by  the  Spirit,  (1  Pet.  iii.  18,)  then  he  that  was  mani- 
fest in  the  flesh  was  justified  in  the  Spirit,  (1  Tim.  iii. 
16) ;  but  God,  when  he  justified  him  in  raising  him 
from  the  dead,  did  not  only  release  him  from  his  hu- 
miliation for  sin,  and  acquit  him  from  any  further  suf- 
fering or  abasement  for  it,  but  admitted  him  to  that 
eternal  and  immortal  life,  and  to  the  beginning  of  that 
exaltation,  which  was  the  reward  of  what  he  had  done. 
And  indeed  the  justification  of  a  believer  is  no  other 
than  his  being  admitted  to  communion  in  the  justifica- 
tion of  this  head  and  surety  of  all  believers  ;  for  as 
Christ  suffered  the  punishment  of  sin,  not  as  a  private 
person,  but  as  our  surety ;  so  when  after  this  suffering 
he  was  raised  from  the  dead,  he  was  therein  justified, 
not  as  a  private  person,  but  as  the  surety  and  repre- 
sentative of  all  that  should  believe  in  him.  So  that  he 
was  raised  again  not  only  for  his  own,  but  also  for  our 
justification,  Rom.  iv.  25;  'who  was  delivered  for 
our  offences,  and  raised  for  our  justification.'  And 
therefore  it  is  that  the  apostle  says  as  he  does  in  Rom. 
viii.  34,  '  Who  is  he  that  condemneth  ?  It  is  Christ 
that  died,  yea  rather,  that  is  risen  again.'  ' 

This  great  writer  says  yet  more  on  the  subject,  but 
surely  enough  has  been  quoted  incontestably  to  prove 
that  he  held  that  pardon  was  not  the  whole  of  justifi- 
cation. If  any  man  shall  hereafter  claim  him  on  that 
side,  he  must  either  betray  great  ignorance,  or  crimi- 
nal perverseness  of  mind. 

The  bitterness,  with  which  the  present  defenders  of 
orthodox  views  in  this  matter,  are  assailed  must  justify 
the  making  of  an  extract  from  Dr.  Thomas  Scott : 
"  The  justification  of  a  sinner  must  imply  something 


JUSTIFICATION — ACCEPTANCE  IN  CHRIST.         211 

distinct  from  a  total  and  final  remission  of  the  deserved 
punishment ;  namely  a  renewed  title  to  the  reward  of 
righteousness,  as  complete  and  effective  as  he  would 
have  had  if  he  had  never  sinned,  but  had  perfectly 
performed,  during  the  term  of  his  probation,  all  the 
demands  of  the  divine  law.  The  remission  of  sins 
would  indeed  place  him  in  such  a  state,  that  no  charge 
would  lie  against  him ;  but  then  he  would  have  no 
title  to  the  reward  of  righteousness,  till  he  had  ob- 
tained it  by  performing,  for  the  appointed  time,  the 
whole  obedience  required  of  him  ;  for  he  would  merely 
be  re-admitted  to  a  state  of  probation,  and  his  justifi- 
cation or  condemnation  could  not  be  decided  till  that 
were  terminated.  But  the  justification  of  the  pardoned 
sinner  gives  him  a  'present  title  to  the  reward  of  right- 
eousness, independent  of  his  future  conduct,  as  well  as 
without  respect  to  his  p>asi  actions.  This  is  evidently 
the  scriptural  idea  of  justification :  it  is  uniformly 
represented  as  immediate  and  complete,  when  the  sin- 
ner believes  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  and  not  as  a 
contingent  advantage  to  be  waited  for  till  death  or 
judgment:  and  the  arguments,  which  some  learned 
men  have  adduced,  to  prove  that  justification  means 
nothing  else  than  forgiveness  of  sins,  only  show  that 
the  two  distinct  blessings  are  never  separately  con- 
ferred. David,  for  instance,  says,  'Blessed  is  the 
man  to  whom  the  Lord  imputeth  not  iniquity ;'  and 
Paul  observes  that  in  that  passage,  '  David  describeth 
the  blessedness  of  the  man,  unto  whom  God  imputeth 
righteousness  without  works.'  This  does  not  prove, 
that  'not  imputing  sin,'  and  'imputing  righteousness' 
are  synonymous  terms :  but  merely,  that  where  God 
does  not  impute  siny  he  does  impute  righteousness; 


212        JUSTIFICATION — ACCEPTANCE  IN  CHRIST. 

and  that  he  confers  the  title  to  eternal  life,  on  all  those 
whom  he  rescues  from  eternal  death.  Indeed  exemp- 
tion from  eternal  punishment,  and  a  right  to  an  actual 
and  vast  reward,  are  such  distinct  things,  that  one 
cannot  but  wonder  they  should  be  so  generally  con- 
founded as  they  are  in  theological  discussions." 

These  extracts  from  Scott  and  Edwards  have  been  pur- 
posely given  at  length,  because  they  fairly  and  cogently 
argue  the  question,  because  these  writers  are  remarkable 
for  sound  and  clear  discrimination,  because  they  were 
eminently  earnest  and  deeply  experienced  Christians, 
because  above  most  they  were  Bible  theologians,  and 
because  they  justly  have  great  weight  with  good  and 
sober  people  in  settling  the  opinions  of  the  wavering. 
It  would  be  easy  to  swell  the  testimonies  to  this  pre- 
cious truth  to  a  great  number.  Take  the  following  as 
the  only  additional  witness  now  offered.  The  latter 
Confession  of  Helvetia  says :  "  To  justify,  in  the 
apostle's  disputation  concerning  justification,  doth  sig- 
nify to  remit  sins,  to  absolve  from  the  fault  and  pun- 
ishment thereof,  to  receive  into  favour,  to  pronounce  a 
man  just."  Still  our  dependence  is  on  God's  precious 
word  for  all  our  doctrinal  principles.  There  we  find 
the  remission  and  the  reward  both  stated.  Jesus 
Christ  says,  "  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  he  that  heareth 
my  word,  and  believeth  on  him  that  sent  me,  hath 
everlasting  life,  and  shall  not  come  into  condemnation  ; 
but  is  passed  from  death  unto  life."  John  v.  24.  Here 
life  and  death,  everlasting  life  and  condemnation  are 
opposite,  and  justification  by  faith  is  described,  not 
merely  as  escape  from  death  and  condemnation,  but 
as  a  passage  already  made  from  death  unto  life.  In 
Acts  xiii.  38,  39,  are  these  words  also :  "  Be  it  known 
unto  you  therefore,  men  and  brethren,  that  through 


JUSTIFICATION — ACCEPTANCE  IN  CHRIST.         213 

this  man  is  preached  unto  you  the  forgiveness  of  sins ; 
and  by  him  all  that  believe  are  justified  from  all  things, 
from  which  ye  could  not  be  justified  by  the  law  of 
Moses."  So  Christ  sent  Paul  to  preach  to  the  gen- 
tiles, "that  they  might  receive  forgiveness  of  sins,  and 
inheritance  among  them  which  are  sanctified."  Acts 
xxvi.  18.  Here  both  the  blessings  are  distinctly  stated 
as  flowing  from  Christ.  So  in  Rom.  v.  1,  2,  "  There- 
fore being  justified  by  faith,  we  have  peace  with  God 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  whom  also  we  have 
access  into  this  grace  wherein  we  stand,  and  rejoice  in 
hope  of  the  glory  of  God."  Surely,  the  second  verse 
here  is  not  mere  tautology.  By  the  pardon  of  sin 
"there  is  no  condemnation"  to  the  believer;  by  his 
acceptance  in  the  Beloved,  "  he  is  made  an  heir  accord- 
ing to  the  hope  of  eternal  life."  Rom.  viii.  1 ;  Titus 
iii.  7.  If  the  distinction  has  not  been  made  clear,  and 
also  well  established,  perhaps  it  is  hardly  necessary  to 
spend jnore  time  upon  it.  Its  importance  may  be  seen 
by  asking,  what  is  the  true  state  of  believers  ?  Are 
they  merely  a  company  of  pardoned  wretches  ?  or  are 
they  a  glorious  family  of  adopted  children  ?  Are  they 
merely  turned  out  of  prison  to  wander  at  large  ?  or 
are  they  through  Christ  entitled  to  eternal  glory  ? 
Do  they  stand  before  God's  tribunal  as  a  reprieved 
felon  stands  before  his  king  ?  or  have  they  "  a  right  to 
the  tree  of  life  ?"  Rev.  xxii.  But  we  are  already 
trenching  upon  the  subject  of  the  next  chapter,  viz : 
the  imputed  righteousness  of  Christ.  May  this  and 
that  be  a  blessing  to  many  a  child  of  God.  0  that 
God's  people  knew  their  privileges  and  rejoiced  in 
them  continually.  And  "  whilst  we  carry  a  sense  of 
grace  in  our  conscience  to  comfort  us,  let  us  carry  a 
sense  of  sin  in  our  memory  to  humble  us." 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 

JUSTIFICATION — CHRIST'S  RIGHTEOUSNESS   IS   IMPUTED 
TO    BELIEVERS. 

As  our  works  are  the  works  of  sinners  we  must 
either  stand  before  God,  covered  with  the  filthy  rags 
of  our  own  righteousness,  or  we  must  obtain  some  bet- 
ter righteousness  than  we  are  capable  of  working  out 
for  ourselves.  We  must  either  be  justified  by  God 
without  any  cause,  and  this  would  be  both  connivance 
at  sin  and  approbation  of  it,  to  assert  which  of  God 
would  be  blasphemy  ;  or  by  works  in  their  nature  im- 
perfect and  sinful,  as  all  ours  confessedly  are,  and  that 
would  be  an  admission  that  the  law  had  once  demanded 
too  much ;  or  by  the  all-perfect  work  and  infinite 
merit  of  Jesus  Christ.  This  last  is  God's  published 
plan.  Christ  is  "  the  Lord  our  righteousness."  The 
end  of  his  life  on  earth  was  that  he  might  be  the  end 
of  the  law  for  righteousness  to  every  one  that  be- 
lieveth.  His  righteousness  is  not  imparted,  but  im- 
puted to  us.  It  does  not  cure  our  corruption,  but  it 
covers  our  nakedness.  It  is  not  infused  into  us,  but  it 
is  reckoned  to  us.  It  is  not  inherent  in  us,  but  it  is 
set  down  to  our  account.  We  do  not  imbibe  it,  but  we 
are  invested  with  it.  We  are  not  imbued  but  endued 
with  it.  It  does  not  give  us  a  fitness  for  heaven,  but  a 
title  to  it.  It  is  not  Christ's  work  in  us,  but  his  work 
and  sufferings  for  us,  which  give  us  an  indefeasible 
(214) 


CHRIST'S   RIGHTEOUSNESS.  215 

title  to  the  privileges  of  sons  of  God.  To  enter  the 
kingdom  of  God  without  a  right  would  make  us  stand 
before  him  as  presumptuous  intruders,  called  by  Christ 
"  thieves  and  robbers,  who  had  climbed  up  some  other 
way."  To  enter  it  with  a  title  less  perfect  than  the 
law  requires  would  be  exalting  mercy  at  the  expense  of 
justice,  and  relaxing  all  the  bonds  of  God's  moral 
government.  To  enter  it  with  a  title  based  upon  our 
own  merits  would  be  a  public  and  uncontradicted  de- 
nial of  our  guilt  and  ruin.  But  here  is  Jehovah's 
way.  "  The  grace  of  God,  and  the  gift  by  grace, 
which  is  by  one  man,  Jesus  Christ,  hath  abounded  unto 
many."  "  They  which  receive  abundance  of  grace  and 
of  the  gift  of  righteousness,  shall  reign  in  life  by  one, 
Jesus  Christ."  "  By  the  righteousness  of  one  the  free 
gift  came  upon  all  men  unto  justification  of  life."  "  By 
the  obedience  of  one  shall  many  be  made  righteous." 
"  Our  righteousness,"  says  Calvin,  "is  not  in  ourselves 
but  in  Christ.  !  As  by  one  man's  disobedience  many 
were  made  sinners,  so  by  the  obedience  of  one  shall 
many  be  made  righteous.'  What  is  placing  our  right- 
eousness in  the  obedience  of  Christ,  but  asserting  that 
we  are  accounted  righteous  only  because  his  obedience 
is  accepted  for  us  as  if  it  were  our  own?" 

Such  Scriptures  and  such  reasonings  settle  to  the 
satisfaction  of  the  great  mass  of  God's  people  the 
truth  of  the  imputation  of  Christ's  righteousness  to 
his  people.  The  righteousness  by  which  a  sinner 
stands  accepted  is  called  the  righteousness  of  God,  be- 
cause it  is  in  opposition  to  the  righteousness  of  men, 
because  God  provided  and  approves  it  and  none  other, 
and  because  he  puts  great  honour  upon  it.  It  is  called 
the  righteousness  of  Christ,  because  our  Lord  Jesus 


216  Christ's  righteousness 

Christ,  being  made  under  the  law,  was  obedient  to  all 
its  precepts,  and  suffered  its  dreadful  penalty  for  us, 
and  so  himself  brought  in  everlasting  righteousness 
for  us.  It  is  called  the  righteousness  of  faith,  because 
it  is  apprehended  and  appropriated  by  faith.  It  is  not 
a  righteousness  secured  by  working,  but  by  believing. 
"  We  are  justified  by  faith."  This  righteousness  is  at 
least  once  called  the  righteousness  of  the  law,  because 
in  its  absolute  perfection  it  is  all  that  the  moral  law, 
spotless  and  eternal,  demands  for  the  justification  of  a 
sinner  in  the  sight  of  God.  It  may  well  excite  amaze- 
ment that  the  doctrine  of  the  imputation  of  Christ's 
righteousness  should  be  so  violently  opposed  as  it  some- 
times is.  Owen  says  :  "  In  our  day  nothing  in  reli- 
gion is  more  maligned,  more  reproached,  more  despised, 
than  the  imputation  of  righteousness  unto  us,  or  our 
imputed  righteousness."  Dr.  Thomas  Scott  says, 
"  the  proud  heart  of  man  is  prone  to  deny,  or  object 
to  it,  even  with  blasphemous  enmity."  And  Dr.  Archi- 
bald Alexander  says:  "No  part  of  evangelical  doc- 
trine has  met  with  a  more  determined  opposition  than 
the  doctrine  of  imputation.  It  has  been  loaded  with 
reproaches,  as  a  doctrine  the  most  unreasonable,  the 
most  dangerous,  and  the  most  impious.  It  is  a  remark- 
able circumstance,  however,  that  all  the  objections, 
which  have  been  made  to  it,  are  founded  on  a  misap- 
prehension or  a  misrepresentation  of  the  true  nature 
of  imputation."  It  is  said  that  a  divine  of  our  own 
country  has  been  so  far  left  to  himself  as  to  say  pub- 
licly that  "  imputed  righteousness  is  imputed  non- 
sense." The  motives  of  those,  who  revile  this  doctrine, 
will  be  judged  by  Him,  who  cannot  err.  No  human 
tribunal  is  competent  to  pronounce  upon  them.     But 


IS   IMPUTED   TO    BELIEVERS.  217 

the  pretended  arguments  brought  against  the  doctrine 
of  the  imputation  of  Christ's  merits  to  his  people,  as 
they  have  often  been,  so  they  should  again  and  again 
be  fully  and  fairly  answered.  He  who  defends,  and 
he  who  assails,  this  doctrine  are  busied  at  a  vital  point 
of  Christianity.  Some  have  really  held  and  taught 
the  substance  of  this  doctrine,  and  yet  rejected  the 
term,  imputation.  If  any  ask,  why  we  should  insist 
on  the  use  of  the  term  and  not  yield  it  to  such  persons 
and  others,  the  answer  is  ready.  First,  we  have  the 
example  of  inspired  men  on  our  side.  Psa.  xxxii.  2, 
and  2  Cor.  v.  9  ;  Rom.  iv.  6,  11,  23—25.  If  David 
and  Paul  use  the  word,  why  may  not  we  also  ?  If  any 
man  should  propose  to  banish  the  word  redemption 
from  our  theological  vocabulary,  what  friend  of  truth 
would  consent  to  it  ?  Imputed  righteousness  is  and 
ought  to  be  just  as  dear  to  millions  of  God's  people 
as  redemption.  Secondly,  we  could  not  get  on  well 
without  this  term.  It  conveys  the  very  idea  we  wish 
to  present  in  the  pulpit  and  in  our  writings.  If  a  man 
gives  due  notice  that  henceforth,  he  will  always  call  a 
hat  a  spade,  it  cannot  fairly  be  said  that  he  deceives 
any  one  by  such  a  freak,  but  surely  he  will  give 
trouble  both  to  himself  and  his  friends.  Nor  will  he 
gain  any  good,  unless  he  esteems  the  reputation  of  sin- 
gularity such.  And  he  may  mislead  some  one. 
Thirdly,  good  theological  terms  are  not  easily  obtained 
and  agreed  upon  ;  and  when  they  are  settled  they  be- 
come out-posts  to  important  truths,  and  should  not  be 
surrendered.  The  man,  who  asks  that  the  people  of 
the  United  States  shall  no  more  use  the  phrases,  re- 
publican government,  union,  federative  system,  rights 
of  the  States,  is  either  not  honest,  or  he  is  very  weak. 
19 


218  CHRIST'S  RIGHTEOUSNESS 

It  is  an  old  art  of  enemies  to  assault  and  of  traitors 
to  surrender  the  out-posts.  Fourthly,  this  phrase  has 
long  been  in  use,  is  incorporated  into  many  symbols 
of  faith,  into  many  manuals  of  Christian  doctrine,  and 
into  nearly  all  bodies  of  divinity,  and  so  ought  not  to 
be  given  up.  Those  who  have  objected  to  it  have 
suggested  no  better,  indeed  none  so  good.  The  Swiss 
Reformers  in  the  latter  Confession  of  Helvetia  say: 
"  God  imputeth  the  righteousness  of  Christ  unto  us 
for  our  own  :  so  that  now  we  are  not  only  cleansed  from 
our  sin,  and  purged,  and  holy,  but  also  endued  with 
the  righteousness  of  Christ.  *  *  To  speak  properly, 
then ;  it  is  God  alone  that  justifieth  us,  and  that  only 
for  Christ,  by  not  imputing  unto  us  our  sin,  but  imput- 
ing Christ's  righteousness  unto  us."  Rom.  iv.  23 — 25. 
The  Augsburg  Confession  says :  "  When  therefore  we 
do  say,  that  'we  are  justified  by  faith,'  Rom.  v.  1,  this 
is  our  meaning :  that  we  do  obtain  remission  of  sins, 
and  imputation  of  righteousness,  by  mercy  showed  us 
for  Christ's  sake."  The  confession  of  France  says: 
"  Casting  away  all  opinion  of  virtues  and  merits,  we 
do  altogether  rest  in  the  only  obedience  of  Jesus 
Christ,  which  is  imputed  to  us,  both  that  all  our  sins 
may  be  covered,  and  that  we  may  obtain  grace  before 
God."  The  Confession  of  Saxony  says :  "  Christ 
himself  is  our  righteousness,  because  that  by  his  merit 
we  have  remission,  and  God  doth  impute  his  righteous- 
ness to  us,  and  for  him  doth  account  us  just."  The 
Confession  of  Belgia  says :  "  Christ  himself  is  our 
righteousness,  which  imputeth  all  his  merits  unto  us : 
faith  is  but  the  instrument,  whereby  we  are  coupled 
unto  him."  The  Church  of  England  says:  "We  are 
accounted  righteous  before  God  only  for  the  merits  of 


IS  IMPUTED  TO  BELIEVERS.  219 

our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  by  faith ;  and  not 
for  our  own  works  or  deservings,  wherefore,  that  we 
are  justified  by  faith  only,  is  a  most  wholesome  doc- 
trine and  full  of  comfort."  The  Church  of  Ireland 
says  :  "  We  are  accounted  righteous  before  God,  only 
for  the  merit  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ, 
applied  by  faith.  And  this  righteousness,  which  we 
receive  of  God's  mercy,  and  Christ's  merits,  embraced 
by  faith,  is  taken,  accepted,  and  allowed  of  God,  for 
our  perfect  and  full  justification."  The  Confession  of 
Wirtemburg  says,  that  "  man  is  made  acceptable  to 
God  and  accounted  just  before  him  for  the  only  Son 
of  God,  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  through  faith ;  and 
when  we  appear  before  the  judgment-seat  of  God, 
we  must  not  trust  to  the  merit  of  any  of  those  virtues, 
which  we  have,  but  only  to  the  merit  of  our  Lord  Je- 
sus Christ,  whose  merit  is  ours  by  faith."  The  Con- 
fession of  Sueveland  says :  "  This  whole  justification 
is  to  be  ascribed  to  the  good  pleasure  of  God,  and  to 
the  merit  of  Christ,  and  to  be  received  by  faith  alone." 
John  i.  12,  13,  Eph.  ii.  8—10.  The  Savoy,  the  Cam- 
bridge and  the  Boston  Congregational  Confessions, 
and  the  London  and  Philadelphia  Baptist  Confessions 
hold  forth  these  very  words :  "  Those,  whom  God 
effectually  calleth,  he  also  freely  justifieth,  not  by  in- 
fusing righteousness  into  them,  but  by  pardoning  their 
sins,  and  by  accounting  and  accepting  their  persons  a3 
righteous ;  not  for  anything  wrought  in  them,  or  done 
by  them,  but  for  Christ's  sake  alone ;  not  by  imputing 
faith  itself,  the  act  of  believing,  or  any  other  evange- 
lical obedience  to  them  as  their  righteousness,  but  by 
imputing  Christ's  active  obedience  unto  the  whole  law, 
and  passive  obedience  in  his*  death,  for  their  whole 
*  The  Baptist  has  "  sufferings  and"  before  "  death." 


220  CHRIST'S   RIGHTEOUSNESS 

and  sole  righteousness ;  they  receiving,  and  resting  on 
him  and  his  righteousness  by  faith."  It  is  well  known 
that  all  branches  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  North 
America  and  in  Great  Britain  and  her  colonies,  with 
the  exception  of  a  few  Arians  in  Ireland  and  a  few 
Unitarians  in  England,  who  for  some  reason  wear  the 
Presbyterian  name,  use  almost  verbatim  the  same  for- 
mula on  this  subject. 

The  Heidelberg  Catechism  thus  speaks  : 

u  56.  What  believest  thou  concerning  the  forgive- 
ness of  sins  ? 

"  That  God,  for  the  sake  of  Christ's  satisfaction,  will 
no  more  remember  my  sins,  neither  my  corrupt  nature, 
against  which  I  have  to  struggle  all  my  life  long,  but 
will  graciously  impute  to  me  the  righteousness  of 
Christ,  that  I  may  never  be  condemned  before  the  tri- 
bunal of  God. 

"  59.  But  what  doth  it  profit  thee  that  thou  believest 
all  this  ? 

"That  I  am  righteous  in  Christ,  before  God,  and  an 
heir  of  eternal  life. 

"  60.  Plow  art  thou  righteous  before  God  ? 

"  Only  by  a  true  faith  in  Jesus  Christ ;  so  that,  though 
my  conscience  accuse  me  that  I  have  grossly  trans- 
gressed all  the  commands  of  God,  and  kept  none  of 
them,  and  am  still  inclined  to  all  evil ;  notwithstand- 
ing God,  without  any  merit  of  mine,  but  only  of  mere 
grace,  grants  and  imputes  to  me  the  perfect  satisfac- 
tion, righteousness,  and  holiness  of  Christ;  even  so, 
as  if  I  never  had  had,  nor  committed  any  sin ;  yea,  as 
if  I  had  fully  accomplished  all  that  obedience  which 
Christ  hath  accomplished  for  me  \  inasmuch  as  I  em- 
brace such  benefit  with  a  believing  heart. 


IS  IMPUTED   TO    BELIEVERS.  221 

"  61.  Why  sayest  thou  that  thou  art  righteous  by 
faith  only  ? 

"Not  that  I  am  acceptable  to  God  on  account  of  the 
■worthiness  of  my  faith,  but  only  because  the  satisfac- 
tion, righteousness,  and  holiness  of  Christ  is  my  right- 
eousness before  God,  and  that  I  cannot  receive  and 
apply  the  same  to  myself  any  other  way  than  by  faith 
only." 

The  Welch  Calvinistic  Methodists'  Confession  says  : 
"  Justification  is  an  act  of  the  grace  of  God,  judging 
and  proclaiming  man  to  be  righteous,  through  imputing 
to  him  the  righteousness  of  Christ,  which  is  received 
by  the  sinner  through  faith."  "Justification  includes 
in  itself  a  forgiveness  to  the  transgressor  of  ail  his 
iniquities,  so  that  he  shall  not  die  on  their  account ;  an 
exaltation  of  the  person  to  the  favour  of  God ;  and  a 
bestowing  on  him  a  lawful  right  to  enjoy  never-ending 
happiness." 

We  are  made  the  righteousness  of  God  in  Christ, 
in  the  same  sense  in  which  he  was  made  sin  for  us. 
As  his  receiving  the  curse  for  us  did  not  defile  his  soul, 
or  make  him  personally  ill-deserving,  so  our  receiving 
the  blessing  does  not  make  us  pure  or  personally  meri- 
torious. We  are  made  righteous  in  Christ  in  the  same 
way,  in  which  we  are  made  sinners  in  Adam.  In 
neither  case  is  there  an  identity  of  person.  In  neither 
case  do  the  personal  acts  or  qualities  of  these  our  re- 
presentatives become  our  acts  or  qualities.  In  both 
cases  are  wre  counted,  reckoned,  regarded,  held  and 
treated  in  law  as  if  they  were  ours.  As  Christ  did 
none  of  the  acts  which  were  imputed  to  him  for  expia- 
tion, so  we  have  done  none  of  the  acts,  which  are  im- 
puted to  us  for  justification. 
19* 


222  Christ's  righteousness 

Men  sometimes  say,  How  can  we  be  justified  by  a 
righteousness  not  our  own  ?  It  is  freely  admitted  that 
our  justifying  righteousness  is  not  inherently  ours. 
Nor  is  it  in  any  sense  so  ours  that  we  can  proudly 
boast  of  it,  and  so  deny  that  in  ourselves  we  are  per- 
ishing sinners.  Nor  is  our  justifying  righteousness 
ours  by  any  hereditary  right,  nor  until  God  imputes 
it  to  us,  and  we  receive  it  by  faith.  But  if  the  ob- 
jectors mean  that  when  we  believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  God  imputes  his  righteousness  to  us,  it  does 
not  become  ours  in  the  eye  of  the  law,  then  they  do 
contradict  God's  word  and  the  sense  of  God's  people 
in  all  ages.  How  is  he  "Jehovah  our  righteousness" 
(Jer.  xxiii.  6,)  if  his  merits  in  no  sense  become  ours  ? 
If  these  objectors  are  right,  what  sense  is  there  in  such 
passages  of  Scripture  as  those  already  quoted  from  the 
fifth  chapter  of  Romans  ?  or  what  is  the  meaning  of 
these  words :  "  Christ  is  the  end  of  the  law  for  right- 
eousness to  every  one  that  believeth  V*  Horn.  x.  4  ;  or 
of  this,  "  Christ  is  of  God  made  unto  us  righteous- 
ness?" 1  Cor.  i.  30;  or  of  this,  "He  hath  made  him 
to  be  sin  for  us,  who  knew  no  sin,  that  we  might  be 
made  the  righteousness  of  God  in  him  ?"  2  Cor.  v.  21. 
See  also  Rom.  iv.  5,  6,  and  Gal.  iii.  6,  9,  22.  Augus- 
tine says  :  "  There  is  a  righteousness  of  God,  which  is 
made  ours,  when  it  is  given  unto  us.  It  is  called  the 
righteousness  of  God,  lest  man  should  think  that  he 
had  a  righteousness  of  himself."  Cowper  says  :  "  The 
righteousness  of  Christ  is  ours,  and  ours  by  as  great  a 
right,  as  any  other  thing  which  we  possess ;  to  wit,  by 
the  free  gift  of  God ;  for  it  hath  pleased  him  to  give 
a  garment  to  us,  who  are  naked,  and  to  give  us,  who 
had  none  of  our  own,  a  righteousness  answerable  to 


IS   IMPUTED   TO   BELIEVERS.  223 

justice."  Dr.  A.  Alexander  says  :  "  Whatever  Christ 
has  done  or  suffered  for  our  salvation,  in  order  that  it 
may  be  available  to  us,  must  in  some  way  become 
ours."  Again:  "When  God  imputes  the  righteous- 
ness of  Christ  to  a  sinner,  he  actually  bestows  it  upon 
him  for  all  the  purposes  of  his  complete  justification." 
The  doctrine  commonly  held  by  the  Church  of  God  is, 
that  what  Christ  has  done  and  suffered  for  his  people 
becomes  actually  and  legally  theirs,  in  the  sight  of  God, 
in*  virtue  of  their  union  with  him.  So  that  we  do  not, 
we  dare  not  teach  that  a  man  is  justified  by  a  right- 
eousness in  no  sense  his  own.  The  great  difference  be- 
tween saints  and  sinners  in  the  matter  of  justification 
is,  that  the  former  are  partakers  of  the  righteousness 
of  Christ,  and  the  latter  are  not.  No  man  has  a  title 
to  anything  better  than  this,  that  God  gave  it  to  him. 
This  is  our  title  to  life,  to  reason,  to  our  souls,  to  im- 
mortality. This  is  the  believer's  claim  to  the  infinite 
merits  of  Christ. 

Ridgley  says  that,  "  there  are  some  who  oppose  this 
doctrine,  by  calling  it  a  putative  righteousness,  the 
shadow  or  appearance  of  that,  .which  has  in  it  no  re- 
ality, or  our  being  accounted  what  we  are  not,  whereby 
'a  wrong  judgment  is  passed  on  persons  and  things. 
However,  we  are  not  to  deny  it  because  it  is  thus  mis- 
represented, and  thereby  unfairly  opposed.  It  is  cer- 
tain there  are  such  words  used  in  Scripture,  and  often 
applied  to  this  doctrine,  which  without  any-  ambiguity 
or  strain  on  the  sense  thereof,  may  be  translated,  to 
reckon,  to  account,  or  to  place  a  thing  done  by  another 
to  our  account ;  or,  as  we  express  it,  to  impute."  *  * 
"  This  is  the  most  perverse  sense  which  can  be  put  on 
words,  or  is  a  setting  this  doctrine  in  such  a  light  aa 


224  CHRIST'S   RIGHTEOUSNESS 

no  one  takes  it  in,  who  pleads  for  it."  The  truth  is 
that  the  judgment  of  God  is  always  according  to  truth ; 
and  the  doctrine  maintained  is  not  that  God  regards  us 
as  having  done  acts,  which  were  performed  by  Christ, 
nor  that  Jehovah  has  any  false  estimate  of  us  whatever, 
nor  that  God  reputes  us  as  being  in  ourselves  worthy, 
when  the  fact  is  that  we  are  "in  ourselves  wholly  un- 
worthy, nor  that  anything  respecting  our  case  has  been 
ignored  by  the  Almighty.  But  it  is  simply  that  God 
looks  upon  believers  in  Christ  as  one  with  the  Saviour, 
that  Christ's  righteousness  is  counted,  reckoned  to  them 
for  righteousness,  or  that  as  their  surety  he  meets  all 
the  demands  of  the  law  on  them  as  transgressors,  and 
makes  over  to  them  his  perfect  obedience  as  ground  of 
their  acceptance  with  God. 

It  is  sometimes  said  that  the  doctrine  of  imputed 
righteousness  sets  aside  the  fulfilment  of  the  law.  But 
this  is  surely  a  mistake.  Paul  says,  that  God  sent  his 
Son  to  the  very  end  "  that  the  righteousness  of  the 
law  might  be  fulfilled  in  us."  And  Dr.  Gill  well  says 
that  "  though  righteousness  does  not  come  by  our  obe- 
dience to  the  law,  yet.it  does  by  Christ's  obedience  to 
it.  Though  by  the  deeds  of  the  law  as  performed  by 
man,  no  flesh  shall  be  justified,  yet  by  the  deeds  of  the 
law  as  performed  by  Christ,  all  the  elect  are  justified." 
So  that  now  "if  we  confess  our  sins,  God  is  faithful 
and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins,  and  to  cleanse  us  from 
all  unrighteousness."  1  John  i.  9.  On  any  other 
scheme  than  that,  which  is  here  contended  for,  what 
sense  is  there  in  the  word,  just,  in  the  text  last  quoted  ? 
If  the  import  of  the  objection  is  that  the  doctrine  is 
unfriendly  to  the  promotion  of  holiness  among  men, 
the  answers  are  ready.     In  llomans  vi.  1,  2,  Paul 


IS   IMPUTED   TO   BELIEVERS.  225 

meets  this  objection  thus:  ""What  shall  we  say  then? 
Shall  we  continue  in  sin  that  grace  may  abound  ?  God 
forbid ;  how  shall  we,  that  are  dead  to  sin,  live  any 
longer  therein  ?"  In  that  and  the  next  chapter  he 
says  much  more  to  the  same  effect.  Besides,  the 
whole  gospel  plan  goes  on  the  supposition  that  the 
strongest  motive,  which  can  incline  man's  heart  to  ho- 
liness, is  love.  Now  "  love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law." 
"  We  love  him  because  he  first  loved  us."  "  The  love 
of  Christ  constraineth  us,  because  we  thus  judge  that 
if  one  died  for  all,  then  were  all  dead,  and  that  he 
died  for  all,  that  they  which  live  should  not  henceforth 
live  unto  themselves,  but  unto  him  that  died  for  them." 
And  the  facts  are  all  on  one  side.  It  would  be  impos- 
sible to  find  in  any  age  an  eminently  holy  man,  who 
did  not  openly  declare  that  his  hope  was  in  God's 
mercy,  not  in  his  own  doings,  in  the  righteousness  of 
Christ,  not  in  his  own  deservings.  There  was  as  much 
agreement  among  the  Reformed  churches,  for  more 
than  two  hundred  years  from  the  days  of  Luther  and 
Calvin,  in  receiving  this  doctrine,  as  that  of  the  divinity 
of  Christ,  or  the  personality  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Some  say,  if  we  are  justified  on  the  ground  of  the 
merits  of  Christ,  where  are  the  grace  and  mercy  of 
the  gospel  ?  The  answer  is  that  God's  rich  grace  and 
abundant  mercy  shine  forth  in  the  whole  work  of  sal- 
vation from  first  to  last.  The  whole  devising,  execu- 
tion, application  and  crowning  of  redemption  flow  from 
God's  boundless  grace,  and  infinite,  eternal,  and  un- 
changeable love.  Grace  is  not  connivance  at  sin. 
Mercy  is  not  contempt  of  law.  The  grace  of  Christ 
vindicates  the  justice  and  government  of  God,  while 
it  brings  salvation  to  the  guilty.     Hear  the  language 


226  CHRIST'S   RIGHTEOUSNESS 

of  the  Baptist  and  Congregational  Confessions,  which 
have  been  already  quoted  in  this  chapter  :  "  Christ  by 
his  obedience  and  death  did  fully  discharge  the  debt 
of  all  those  that  are  justified,  and  did  by  the  sacrifice 
of  himself,  in  the  blood  of  his  cross,  undergoing  in 
their  stead  the  penalty  due  unto  them,  make  a  proper, 
real  and  full  satisfaction  to  God's  justice  in  their  be- 
half; yet  inasmuch  as  he  was  given  by  the  Father  for 
them,  and  his  obedience  and  satisfaction  accepted  in 
their  stead,  and  both  freely,  not  for  anything  in  them, 
their  justification  is  only  of  free  grace,  that  both  the 
exact  justice  and  rich  grace  of  God  might  be  glorified 
in  the  justification  of  sinners."  The  Presbyterian 
Confession  has  nearly  the  same  words.  To  the  ques- 
tion, "if  our  justification  be  thus  purchased  by  the 
perfect  obedience  and  satisfaction  of  Christ,  how  is  it 
of  free  grace  ?"  the  Rev.  Thomas  Boston  replies, 
"  Very  well ;  for  1.  God  accepted  of  a  surety,  when 
he  might  have  held  by  the  sinner  himself,  and  insisted 
that  the  soul  that  sinned  might  die.  Rom.  v.  8.  *  * 
God  did  this  freely.  2.  God  himself  provided  the 
Surety.  John  iii.  16.  *  *  The  Father  gives  the  Son, 
and  the  Son  assumes  man's  nature  and  pays  the  debt. 
What  is  there  here  but  riches  of  grace  to  the  justified 
sinner  ?  3.  God  demands  nothing  of  us  [in  payment] 
for  it.  It  is  a  rich  purchase,  a  dear  purchase,  the 
price  of  blood  ;  but  the  righteousness  and  justification 
are  given  to  us  most  freely  through  faith.  That  is,  we 
have  it,  for  'take-and-have.'  And  the  very  hand, 
wherewith  we  receive  it,  namely  faith,  is  the  free  gift 
of  God  unto  us.  Eph.  ii.  8.  So  that  most  evident  it 
is  that  we  are  justified  freely  by  his  grace."  Calvin 
says :  "  It  betrays  ignorance  to  oppose  the  merit  of 


IS   IMPUTED   TO   BELIEVERS.  227 

Christ  to  the  mercy  of  God.  For  it  is  a  common 
maxim,  that  between  two  things,  of  which  one  succeeds 
or  is  subordinate  to  the  other,  there  can  be  no  opposi- 
tion. There  is  no  reason  therefore  why  the  justifica- 
tion of.  men  should  not  be  gratuitous  from  the  mere 
mercy  of  God,  and  why  at  the  same  time  the  merit  of 
Christ  should  not  intervene,  which  is  subservient  to 
the  mercy  of  God."  Thus  the  doctrine  has  been  ex- 
plained, it  has  been  proven  from  Scripture,  it  has  been 
shown  to  be  interwoven  with  our  best  formulas  of  doc- 
trine, and  objections  to  it  have  been  answered.  In  the 
next  chapter  some  additional  testimonies  in  its  favour 
will  be  given. 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 


JUSTIFICATION.  — IMPUTED     RIGHTEOUSNESS. ADDI- 
TIONAL  TESTIMONIES. 

There  is  hardly  anything  more  gratifying  to  the 
pious  mind  than  to  discover  an  agreement  between  its 
own  conclusions  and  those  of  great  and  good  men,  who 
have  lived  in  former  generations.  They  may  indeed 
have  been  mistaken,  and  so  they  are  no  standard  to 
us ;  yet  when  their  number  is  large,  when  they  lived 
in  different  ages  and  countries,  and  yet  were  led  by 
honest  inquiry  and  much  prayer  to  the  same  results, 
and  when  their  well-earned  reputation  for  piety,  love 
of  truth  and  diligence  in  study,  create  a  strong  pre- 
sumption in  favour  of  their  united  testimony,  a  good 
man  will  very  carefully  examine  the  grounds  of  his 
conclusions  before  he  will  refuse  to  adopt  their  senti- 
ments, especially  where  they  have  all  put  much  honour 
on  God's  holy  word.  In  other  chapters  of  this  work 
many  such  witnesses  have  been  adduced.  But  this 
chapter  will  consist  chiefly  of  the  views  of  others  on 
the  subject  in  hand.  The  language  of  God's  people 
often  varies  considerably,  but  the  sense  of  the  follow- 
ing quotations  is  clearly  confirmatory  of  our  doctrine. 
Having  already  noticed  the  views  of  the  writers  of  the 
first  five  centuries,  the  first  now  given  is  that  of 
Gregory.  He  says  :  "  Our  righteous  Advocate  shall 
defend  us  in  the  day  of  judgment,  because  we  know 
(228) 


IMPUTED   RIGHTEOUSNESS.  229 

and  accuse  ourselves  to  be  unrighteous.  Therefore  let 
us  not  trust  to  our  tears,  nor  to  our  actions,  but  to  the 
alleging  of  our  Advocate." 

Calvin  remarking  on  Rom.  v.  19,  says  :  "  The  mean- 
ing is,  that  as  by  the  sin  of  Adam  we  were  alienated 
from  God,  and  devoted  to  destruction,  so  by  the  obe- 
dience of  Christ  we  are  received  into  favour,  as  right- 
eous persons.  Nor  does  the  future  tense  of  the  verb 
exclude  present  righteousness  ;  as  appears  from  the 
context.  For  he  had  before  said,  "  The  free  gift  is  of 
many  offences  unto  justification."  Again,  "if  right- 
eousness consist  in  an  observance  of  the  law,  who  can 
deny  that  Christ  merited  favour  for  us,  when  by  bear- 
ing this  burden  himself  he  reconciles  us  to  God,  just  as 
though  we  were  complete  observers  of  the  law  our- 
selves." 

Bishop  Latimer  says :  "  When  we  believe  in  Christ, 
it  is  like  as  if  we  had  no  sins.  For  he  changeth  with 
us.  He  taketh  our  sins  and  wickedness  from  us,  and 
giveth  unto  us  his  holiness,  righteousness,  justice,  ful- 
filling of  the  law,  and  so  consequently  everlasting  life. 
So  that  we  be  like  as  if  we  had  done  no  sin  at  all ;  for 
his  righteousness  standeth  us  in  good  stead,  as  though 
we  of  our  own  selves  had  fulfilled  the  law." 

Bishop  Hooper  says  :  "  We  must  only  trust  to  the 
merits  of  Christ,  which  satisfied  the  extreme  jot  and 
uttermost  point  of  the  law  for  us.  And  this  his  justice 
and  perfection  he  imputeth  and  communicateth  with 
us  by  faith." 

Richard  Hooker  says:  "Although  in  ourselves  we 

be  altogether  sinful  and  unrighteous,  yet  even  the  man 

which  is  impious   in  himself,  full  of  iniquity,  full  of 

sin,  him   being   found  in  Christ  through  faith,  and 

20 


230  ADDITIONAL  TESTIMONIES. 

having  his  sin  remitted  through  repentance,  him  God 
beholdeth  with  a  gracious  eye,  putteth  away  his  sin  by 
not  imputing  it,  taketh  quite  away  the  punishment  due 
thereunto  by  pardoning  it,  and  accepteth  him  in  Jesus 
Christ  as  perfectly  righteous,  as  if  he  had  fulfilled  all 
that  was  commanded  him  in  the  law  ;  shall  I  say  more 
perfectly  righteous  than  if  himself  had  fulfilled  the 
whole  law  ?  I  must  take  heed  what  I  say  :  but  the 
apostle  saith,  'God  made  him  to  be  sin  for  us,  who 
knew  no  sin,  that  we  might  be  made  the  righteousness 
of  God  in  him.'  Such  we  are  in  the  sight  of  God  the 
Father,  as  is  the  very  Son  of  God  himself.  Let  it  be 
counted  folly  or  frenzy,  or  fury,  whatsoever,  it  is  our 
comfort  and  our  wisdom  ;  we  care  for  no  knowledge  in 
the  world  but  this,  that  man  hath  sinned  and  God  hath 
suffered  ;  that  God  hath  made  himself  the  Son  of  man, 
and  that  men  are  made  the  righteousness  of  God." 

-Grotius  says :  "  Whereas  we  have  said  that  Christ 
hath  brought  forth  or  procured  two  things  for  us,  free- 
dom from  punishment  and  a  reward,  the  ancient 
church  attributes  the  one  of  them  unto  his  satisfaction, 
the  other  unto  his  merit.  Satisfaction  consists  in  the 
translation  of  sins,  merit  in  the  imputation  of  his  most 
perfect  obedience  performed  for  us." 

Bates  says :  "  There  are  but  two  ways  of  appearing 
before  the  righteous  and  supreme  Judge :  1.  In  inno- 
cence and  sinless  obedience :  or,  2.  by  the  righteous- 
ness of  Christ.  The  one  is  by  the  law,  the  other  by 
grace.  And  these  two  can  never  be  compounded  ;  for 
he  that  pleads  innocence,  in  that  disclaims  favour; 
and  he  that  sues  for  favour  acknowledges  guilt.  Now 
the  first  cannot  be  performed  by  us.  For  entire  obe- 
dience to  the  law  supposes  the  integrity  of  our  natures, 


IMPUTED   RIGHTEOUSNESS.  231 

there  being  a  moral  impossibility  that  the  faculties 
once  corrupted  should  act  regularly ;  but  man  is 
stained  with  original  sin  from  his  conception.  And 
the  form  of  the  law  runs  universally,  '  cursed  is  every 
one  that  continueth  not  in  all  things,  written  in  the 
book  of  the  law  to  do  them.'  In  these  scales  one  evil 
work  preponderates  a  thousand  good.  If  a  man  were 
guilty  of  but  one  single  error,  his  entire  obedience  af- 
terwards could  not  save  him ;  for  that  being  always 
due  to  the  law,  the  payment  of  it  cannot  discount  for 
the  former  debt.  So  that  we  cannot  in  any  degree  be 
justified  by  the  law ;  for  there  is  no  middle  between 
transgressing  and  not  transgressing  it.  He  that  breaks 
one  article  in  a  covenant  cuts  off  his  claim  to  any 
benefit  from  it.  *  *  "Whoever  presumes  to  appear  be- 
fore God's  judgment-seat  in  his  own  righteousness  shall 
be  covered  with  confusion. 

"2.  By  the  righteousness  of  Christ.  This  alone  ab- 
solves from  the  guilt  of  sin,  saves  from  hell  and  can 
endure  the  trial  of  God's  tribunal.  This  the  apostle 
prized  as  his  invaluable  treasure,  in  comparison  of 
which  all  other  things  are  but  dross  and  dung.  *  * 
That  which  is  ordained,  and  rewarded  in  the  person 
of  our  Redeemer,  God  cannot  but  accept.  Now  this 
righteousness  is  meritoriously  imputed  only  to  be- 
lievers. *  *  As  all  sins  are  mortal  in  respect  of  their 
guilt,  but  death  is  not  actually  inflicted  for  them,  upon 
the  account  of  the  grace  of  the  new  covenant ;  so  all 
sins  are  venial  in  respect  of  the  satisfaction  made  by 
Christ ;  but  they  are  not  actually  pardoned,  till  the 
performing  of  the  condition,  to  which  pardon  is  an- 
nexed. Faith  transfers  the  guilt  from  the  sinner  to 
the  sacrifice." 


232  ADDITIONAL   TESTIMONIES. 

Leighton  says  :  "  This  is  the  great  glad  tidings,  that 
we  are  made  righteous  by  Christ ;  it  is  not  a  right- 
eousness wrought  by  us,  but  given  to  us,  and  put  upon 
us.  This  carnal  reason  cannot  comprehend,  and  being 
proud,  therefore  rejects  and  argues  against  it,  saying, 
How  can  this  tiling  he  ?  But  faith  closes  with  it,  and 
rejoices  in  it.  Without  either  doing  or  suffering,  the 
sinner  is  acquitted,  and  justified,  and  stands  as  guilt- 
less of  breach,  yea,  as  having  fulfilled  the  whole  law. 
And  happy  they  that  thus  fasten  upon  this  righteous- 
ness, that  they  may  lift  up  their  faces  with  gladness 
and  boldness  before  God ;  whereas  the  most  industri- 
ous, self-saving  justiciary,  though  in  other  men's  eyes 
and  his  own,  possibly  for  the  present,  he  makes  a  glit- 
tering show,  yet  when  he  shall  come  to  be  examined 
of  God,  and  tried  according  to  the  law,  shall  be  covered 
with  shame,  and  confounded  in  his  folly  and  guilti- 
ness." 

Owen  says  :  "  There  is  an  imputation  of  mere  grace 
and  favour.  And  this  is,  when  that  which  antece- 
dently unto  the  imputation  was  no  way  ours,  not  inhe- 
rent in  us,  not  performed  by  us,  which  we  had  no  right 
nor  title  unto,  is  granted  unto  us,  made  ours,  so  as 
that  we  are  judged  of,  and  dealt  with  according  unto 
it.  This  is  that  imputation  in  both  branches  of  it, 
negative  in  the  non-imputation  of  sin,  and  positive  in 
the  imputation  of  righteousness,  which  the  apostle  so 
vehemently  pleads  for,  and  so  frequently  asserteth. 
Rom.  iv.  For  he  both  affirms  the  thing  itself,  and 
declares  that  it  is  of  mere  grace,  without  respect  unto 
anything  within  ourselves.  And  if  this  kind  of  impu- 
tation cannot  be  fully  exemplified  in  any  other  in- 
stance, but  this  alone,  whereof  Aye  treat,  it  is  because 


IMPUTED    RIGHTEOUSNESS.  233 

the  foundation  of  it  in  the  mediation  of  Christ  is  sin- 
gular, and  that  which  there  is  nothing  to  parallel  in 
any  other  case."  "  The  imputation  we  plead  for  is 
not  a  judging  or  esteeming  of  them  to  be  righteous, 
who  truly  and  really  are  not  so."  In  imputation  God 
"  makes  an  effectual  grant  and  donation  of  a  true,  real, 
perfect  righteousness,  even  that  of  Christ  himself  unto 
all  that  do  believe,  and  accounting  it  as  theirs,  on  his 
own  gracious  act,  both  absolves  them  from  sin,  and 
granteth  them  right  and  title  unto  eternal  life.  In 
this  imputation,  the  thing  itself  is  first  imputed  unto 
us,  and  not  any  of  the  effects  of  it,  but  they  are  made 
ours  by  virtue  of  that  imputation."  "  To  say  the 
righteousness  of  Christ  is  not  imputed  unto  us,  only 
its  effects  are  so,  is  really  to  overthrow  all  imputation." 

Charnock  says:  "All  the  world  stands  guilty  "be- 
fore God ;  cannot  present  God  with  a  righteousness  of 
their  own  commensurate  to  the  law ;  not  one  act  any 
man  can  do  can  bear  proportion  to  it ;  all  strength  to 
do  anything  suitable  to  it  was  lost  in  Adam.  Since 
no  righteousness  of  our  own  can  justify,  it  must  be  the 
righteousness  of  the  Son  of  God,  which  must  be  im- 
puted to  us  in  the  same  manner  our  sins  were  im- 
puted to  him ;  as  it  is  accepted  by  God  for  us,  so  it  is 
accounted  by  God  to  us.  .2  Cor.  v.  21.  Sin  was  in  us, 
but  charged  upon  Christ ;  righteousness  is  in  Christ, 
and  imputed  to  us." 

Tuckney  says  :  "  We  are  made  the  righteousness  of 
God  in  Christ  in  the  same  way  that  he  was  made  sin 
for  us,  that  is,  by  imputation." 

Ryland  says:    " Justification  by   Christ's   imputed 
righteousness  is  the   centre  arch  of  that  bridge,  by 
which  we  pass  out  of  time  into  a  blissful  eternity." 
20* 


234  ADDITIONAL   TESTIMONIES. 

,  John  Willison  when  near  death  ejaculated  :  "lam 
living  on  the  righteousness  of  Christ,  yea  dying  in  the 
Lord.  *  *  It  is  not  past  experiences  or  manifestations 
I  depend  upon  ;  it  is  Christ,  a  present,  all-sufficient 
Saviour,  and  perfect  righteousness  in  him,  I  look  to. 
All  my  attainments  are  but  loss  and  dung  besides 
him." 

Bunyan  said :  "  There  is  no  other  way  for  sinners 
to  be  justified  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  in  the  sight 
of  God,  than  by  the  imputation  of  that  righteousness 
long  ago  performed  by,  and  still  residing  with  the  per- 
son of  Jesus  Christ." 

The  author  of  the  sermon  on  justification  in  the 
"Morning  Exercises"  published  in  1675  says:  "  To  be 
justified  is  to  be  freely  accepted  of  God  as  righteous, 
so  as  to  have  pardon  and  title  to  life,  upon  the  account 
of  Christ's  righteousness.  We  cannot  be  accepted  as 
righteous  till  we  be  acquitted  from  guilt."  "  There  are 
these  severals  considerable  about  the  imputing  this 
righteousness ;  first,  substitution ;  Christ  satisfied  in 
our  stead,  i.  e.  he  tendered  that  which  was  due  from 
us.  Secondly,  acceptance  ;  the  Father  accepted  what 
Christ  performed  in  our  stead,  as  performed  on  our 
behalf.  Thirdly,  participation ;  we  have  the  fruits 
and  advantages  of  his  undertaking,  no  less  than  if  we 
ourselves  had  satisfied." 

Stedman  says  :  "  The  first  blessing  that  I  shall  men- 
tion as  depending  upon  union  with  Jesus  Christ  is  the 
justification  of  a  sinner  in  the  sight  of  God,  upon  the 
account  of  Christ's  righteousness  imputed  to  him; 
whereby  the  guilt  of  sin  is  removed,  and  the  person  of 
the  sinner  accepted  as  righteous  with  the  God  of  hea- 
ven."    "  The  only  matter  of  mans  righteousness  since 


IMPUTED   RIGHTEOUSNESS.  235 

the  fall  of  Adam,  wherein  he  can  appear  with  comfort 
before  the  justice  of  God,  and  consequently  whereby 
alone  he  can  be  justified  in  his  sight,  is  the  obedience 
and  sufferings  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  righteousness  of 
the  Mediator." 

Wilcox  says:  "If  thou  ever  sawest  Christ,  thou 
sawest  him  a  rock  higher  than  self-righteousness,  Sa- 
tan and  sin,  and  this  rock  doth  follow  thee  ;  and  there 
will  be  a  continual  dropping  of  iioney  and  grace,  out 
of  this  rock,  to  satisfy  thee." 

Crisp  says  :  "  These  are  the  sure  mercies  of  David, 
when  a  man  receives  the  things  of  Christ,  only  because 
Christ  gives  them  ;  and  not  in  regard  of  any  action  of 
ours,  as  the  ground  of  taking  them.  Christ  is  not 
more  rich  in  himself  than  he  is  liberal  to  contribute  of 
his  treasures.  He  makes  his  people  sharers  to  the 
uttermost  of  all  that  he  has." 

Bengel  says :  "  The  law  presseth  on  a  man,  till  he 
flees  to  Christ ;  then  it  says,  Thou  hast  gotten  a  refuge. 
I  forbear  to  follow  thee.  Thou  art  wise.  Thou  art 
safe." 

Glascock  says  :  "  The  grand  design  of  all  false  reli- 
gion is  to  patch  up  a  righteousness  for  the  justification 
of  the  sinner  before  God.  The  Christian  religion 
teaches  us  to  seek  justification  before  God  by  the  im- 
putation of  Christ's  righteousness  to  us  upon  our  be- 
lieving on  him.  The  denial  of  a  believer's  justifica- 
tion, by  the  imputation  of  Christ's  righteousness  to 
him,  stabs  the  very  heart  of  Christianity,  and  destroys 
all  true  revealed  religion." 

Philip  Henry  cried:  "Lord,  clothe  me  with  thy 
righteousness,  which  is  a  comely,  costly,  lasting,  ever- 
lasting garment." 


236  ADDITIONAL  TESTIMONIES. 

Richard  Taylor  says :  "  Christ  will  only  be  a  strength 
to  them  that  trust  in  him  for  righteousness  ;  they,  that 
will  not  have  him  for  righteousness,  shall  not  have 
him  for  their  strength,  to  enable  them  to  resist  tempta- 
tions, to  mortify  sin  and  corruption,  and  to  bring  forth 
the  fruits  of  holiness." 

During  the  last  century  there  arose  a  philanthropic 
Englishman,  whose  deeds  of  mercy  have  resounded 
throughout  the  civilized  world.  "  He  visited,"  says 
Burke,  "all  Europe — not  to  survey  the  sumptuous- 
ness  of  palaces,  or  the  stateliness  of  temples,  not  to 
make  accurate  measurements  of  the  remains  of  ancient 
grandeur,  nor  to  form  a  scale  of  the  curiosity  of  mo- 
dern art ;  not  to  collect  medals,  or  collate  manuscripts : 
— but  to  dive  into  the  depths  of  dungeons ;  to  plunge 
into  the  infection  of  hospitals  ;  to  survey  the  mansions 
of  sorrow  and  pain  ;  to  take  the  gauge  and  dimensions 
of  misery,  depression,  and  contempt ;  to  remember  the 
forgotten,  to  attend  to  the  neglected,  to  visit  the  for- 
saken, and  to  compare  and  collate  the  distresses  of  all 
men  in  all  countries.  His  plan  is  original ;  and  it  is 
as  full  of  genius  as  it  is  of  humanity.  It  was  a  voyage 
of  discovery ;  a  circumnavigation  of^charity.  Already 
the  benefit  of  his  labour  is  felt  in  every  country :  I 
hope  he  will  anticipate  his  final  reward,  by  seeing  all 
its  effects  fully  realized  in  his  own."  Now  would  it 
not  be  instructive,  if  we  could  penetrate  the  hidden 
recesses  of  Howard's  thoughts,  and  find  out  what  gave 
him  this  heavenly  zeal  ?  He  himself  has  told  us  in  one 
of  the  most  solemn  acts  of  his  life.  The  inscription, 
which  he  directed  to  be  put  on  his  tomb,  besides  his 
name  and  some  dates,  was  this  :  "  Christ  is  my  hope." 

Hervey  says :  "  Had  I  all  the  faith  of  the  patri- 


IMPUTED   RIGHTEOUSNESS.  237 

archs,  all  the  zeal  of  the  prophets,  all  the  good  works 
of  the  apostles,  all  the  holy  sufferings  of  the  martyrs, 
and  all  the  glowing  devotion  of  the  seraphs ;  I  would 
disclaim  the  whole,  in  point  of  dependence,  and  count 
all  but  dross  and  dung,  when  set  in  competition  with 
the  infinitely  precious  death,  and  infinitely  merito- 
rious righteousness  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

Dr.  Thomas  Scott,  remarking  on  Rom.  x.  4,  says.: 
"  This  '  righteousness  of  God  is  without  the  law,'  being 
entirely  independent  of  our  personal  obedience,  either 
before  or  after  justification  ;  it  becomes  ours  '  by  faith 
in  Christ  Jesus;'  and  in  the  next  chapter  we  read  of 
6  righteousness  imputed  without  works.'  Is  it  not  then 
plain  that  i  the  righteousness  of  God  is  unto  all  that 
believe,'  by  imputation  f  Thus  likewise  it  is  '  upon  all 
that  believe  :'  for  they  '  have  put  on  Christ ;'  God  now 
looking  on  them,  there  appears  nothing  but  Christ; 
they  are  as  it  were  covered  all  over  with  him,  as  a 
man  with  the  clothes  he  has  put  on.  Hence  in  the 
next  verse  it  is  said,  they  '  are  all  one  in  Christ  Jesus,' 
as  if  there  were  but  one  person.  These  are  the  words 
in  which  Mr.  Locke  delivers  his  exposition  of  this 
text." 

The  Rev.  Alexander  Hill  says :  "  Considered  in 
themselves  believers  are  guilty  and  deserve  to  suffer, 
but  by  means  of  the  imputation  of  Christ's  righteous- 
ness, they  are  completely  acquitted  from  the  punish- 
ment due  to  their  sins,  because  it  was  endured  for  them 
by  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  they  acquire  a  right  to  eternal 
life,  because  it  was  purchased  for  them  by  his  obe- 
dience."    He  also  says  that  this  is  the  catholic  opinion. 

Dr.  Chalmers  says  :  "  I  trust  I  shall  never  lose  my 
hold  of  the  fulness  and  peace,  which  lie  in  the  doc- 


238  ADDITIONAL   TESTIMONIES. 

trine  of  Christ's  imputed  righteousness."  Later  in 
life  he  says :  "  0  my  God,  enable  me  to  lay  hold  of 
the  righteousness  of  Christ  as  my  righteousness.  .  .  . 
Never  am  I  in  a  better  frame  than  when  dwelling  in 
simple  faith  on  Christ's  offered  righteousness,  and 
making  it  the  object  of  my  acceptation.  0  Lord,  I 
pray  for  more  and  more  of  the  clearness  and  enlarge- 
ment of  this  view,  and  grant  me  the  Spirit  of  adop- 
tion." 

Indeed  so  uniform  has  been  the  love  of  Christians 
of  all  ages  and  nations  to  the  doctrine  of  salvation  by 
the  imputed  righteousness  of  Christ,  that  it  is  hardly 
less  for  a  wonder  than  for  a  lamentation  that  any  in 
our  day  should  express  doubts  on  the  subject.  Christ's 
righteousness  meets  the  greatest  want  of  an  enlight- 
ened conscience.  It  is  the  strength  of  all  holy  joy  on 
earth.  It  is  the  life  of  a  believer's  soul.  In  the  last 
day  the  shouts  of  grace,  grace  unto  it,  shall  be  heard 
from  all  the  redeemed  as  the  topstone  shall  be  laid  on 
the  living  temple,  the  Church.  To  Christ,  who  has 
paid  the  ransom  for  us,  God's  faithfulness  and  justice 
bind  him  to  give  all  whom  in  covenant  he  had  pro- 
mised, yea,  finally  to  give  him  the  heathen  for  his  in- 
heritance and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  a 
possession.  But  to  sinners  saved,  all  is  grace,  un- 
merited favour,  because  it  comes  to  them  through  the 
imputed  righteousness  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  And 
all  this  is  but  the  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah 
(chap.  xlv.  24,  25) :  "  Surely  shall  one  say,  In  the 
Lord  have  I  righteousness  and  strength  ;"  and  "In 
the  Lord  shall  all  the  seed  of  Israel  be  justified  and 
shall  glory."  Even  "  he  that  hath  clean  hands,  and  a 
pure  heart,  who  hath  not  lifted  up  his  soul  unto  vanity, 


IMPUTED   RIGHTEOUSNESS.  239 

nor  sworn  deceitfully"  shall  not  be  saved  by  his  own 
merits,  but  "  he  shall  receive  the  blessing  from  the 
Lord,  and  righteousness  from  the  God  of  his  salva- 
tion." Psa.  xxiv.  4,  5.  Indeed  the  capital  error  of 
multitudes  in  every  age  has  been  that  "  they,  being 
ignorant  of  God's  righteousness,  and  going  about  to 
establish  their  own  righteousness,  have  not  submitted 
themselves  unto  the  righteousness  of  God.''  Rom.  x.  3. 
Here,  just  here  myriads  have  lost  their  all.  Reader, 
let  it  not  be  so  with  you. 

It  has  been  already  stated  that  some  persons,  who 
have  objected  to  the  phrase,  imputed  righteousness, 
have  yet  held  the  substance  of  what  was  taught  by 
that  doctrine.  Owen  expresses  the  judgment  that  it 
is  "  impossible  that  any  man  should  be  justified  before 
God  any  other  way,  but  by  the  imputation  of  the 
righteousness  of  Christ,"  and  says  this  was  a  common 
sentiment  among  the  orthodox.  Yet  he  as  readily 
says  that  "  they  do  not  think  or  judge  that  all  those 
are  excluded  from  salvation,  who  cannot  apprehend, 
or  do  deny  the  doctrine  of  the  imputation  of  the  right- 
eousness of  Christ,  as  by  them  declared."  "  To  be- 
lieve the  doctrine  of  it,  or  not  to  believe  it,  as  thus  or 
thus  explained,  is  one  thing ;  and  to  enjoy  the  thing, 
or  not  to  enjoy  it,  is  another.  I  no  way  doubt,  but 
that  many  men  do  receive  more  grace  from  God  than 
they  understand,  or  will  own."  "  Men  may  be  really 
saved  by  that  grace  which  doctrinally  they  do  deny ; 
and  they  may  be  justified  by  the  imputation  of  that 
righteousness  which  in  opinion  they  deny  to  be  im- 
puted." Such  views  relieve  the  mind  not  only  of  un- 
charitableness,  but  also  of  anguish  respecting  some, 
who  have  difficulties  on  the  subject.     It  is  well  known 


240  ADDITIONAL   TESTIMONIES. 

that  the  venerable  Dr.  Dwight  at  one  time  wrote 
against  the  doctrine  of  imputation  of  righteousness ; 
but  it  is  delightful  to  find  that  when  he  had  recovered 
from  a  long  and  dangerous  illness,  he  poured  out  his 
thoughts  before  his  pupils  in  these  words :  "  Those 
acts  of  my  life  concerning  which  I  entertained  the  best 
hopes  which  I  was  permitted  to  entertain,  those, 
which  appeared  to  me  the  least  exceptionable,  were 
nothing,  and  less  than  nothing.  The  mercy  of  God  as 
exercised  through  the  all-sufficient  and  glorious  right- 
eousness of  the  Redeemer,  yielded  me  the  only  founda- 
tion of  hope  for  good  beyond  the  grave.  During  the 
long  continuation  of  my  disease,  as  I  was  always,  ex- 
cept when  in  paroxysms  of  suffering,  in  circumstances 
entirely  fitted  for  solemn  contemplation,  I  had  ample 
opportunity  to  survey  this  most  interesting  of  all  sub- 
jects on  every  side.  As  the  result  of  all  my  investi- 
gations, let  me  assure  you,  and  that  from  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  the  eternal  world,  confidence  in  the 
righteousness  of  Christ  is  the  only  foundation  furnished 
by  earth,  or  heaven,  upon  which,  when  you  are  about 
to  leave  this  world,  you  can  safely  rest  the  everlasting 
life  of  your  souls.  To  trust  upon  anything  else  will 
be  to  feed  upon  the  wind  and  sup  up  the  east  wind. 
You  will  then  be  at  the  door  of  eternity ;  will  be  has- 
tening to  the  presence  of  your  Judge  ;  will  be  just 
ready  to  give  up  your  account  of  the  deeds  done  in  the 
body  ;  will  be  preparing  to  hear  the  final  sentence  of 
acquittal  or  condemnation ;  and  will  stand  at  the  gate 
of  heaven  or  of  hell.  In  these  amazing  circumstances 
you  will  infinitely  need,  let  me  persuade  you  to  be- 
lieve and  to  feel  that  you  will  infinitely  need,  a  firm 
foundation  on  which  you  may  stand,  and  from  which 


IMPUTED    RIGHTEOUSNESS.  241 

you  will  never  be  removed.  There  is  no  other  such 
foundation  but  the  Rock  of  Ages.  Then  you  will  be- 
lieve, then  you  will  feel  that  there  is  no  other."  How 
precious  is  such  truth  !  There  is  ground  of  hope  for  a 
sinner  in  the  righteousness  of  Christ.  How  solemn 
the  testimony  here  borne  to  its  vital  importance !  And 
neither  the  wit  of  man,  nor  the  wisdom  of  God  has 
pointed  out  any  method  by  which  that  righteousness 
may  become  ours  "  to  all  the  ends  of  a  complete  justi- 
fication," unless  God  in  mercy  will  impute  it  to  us. 

Such  language  from  President  Dwight  reminds  one 
of  that  of  President  Davies  describing  his  thoughts 
during  an  illness.  He  says  :  "  In  my  sickness,  I  found 
the  unspeakable  importance  of  a  Mediator,  in  a  religion 
of  sinners.  0  !  I  could  have  given  you  the  word  of  a 
dying  man  for  it,  that  Jesus,  that  Jesus  whom  you 
preach,  is  indeed  a  necessary  and  an  all-sufficient 
Saviour.  Indeed  he  is  the  only  support  for  a  depart- 
ing soul.  None  but  Christ,  none  but  Christ.  Had  I 
as  many  good  works  as  Abraham  or  Paul,  I  would  not 
have  dared  build  my  hopes  on  such  a  quicksand,  but 
only  on  this  firm  eternal  Rock."  Indeed  to  dying  be- 
lievers Christ's  righteousness  is  very,  very  precious. 
The  Rev.  W.  H.  Hewitson  dying  said  :  "  The  right- 
eousness of  Christ  is  my  stay.  That  sustained  me  in 
Madeira  in  the  midst  of  persecution  and  difficulties;  it 
has  sustained  me  through  all  my  ministry ;  and  it  sus- 
tains me  now."  Indeed  Christ  is  all  and  in  all  to  his 
departing  followers.  It  is  not  long  since  a  pious  na- 
tive Christian  in  India  was  asked,  on  her  dying  bed, 
what  was  the  state  of  her  mind.  She  replied,  "  Happy, 
happy !"  Then  laying  her  hand  on  the  Bengalee 
Bible  she  said,  "I  have  Christ  here;"  then  pressing 
21 


242  ADDITIONAL  TESTIMONIES. 

it  to  her  heart  she  said,  "And  Christ  here;"  then 
pointing  toward  heaven  she  added,  "And  Christ 
there"  Thrice  blessed  soul.  In  whatever  part  of  the 
universe  she  might  be,  Christ  was  with  her.  He  was 
formed  in  her  the  hope  of  glory.  "  There  is  none  like 
Jesus." 

What  say  you  to  these  things  ?  Is  Christ  all  your 
hope  ?  Are  you  building  on  this  sure,  this  only  foun- 
dation ?  In  coming  before  God  dare  you  make  men- 
tion of  any  but  his  righteousness,  even  of  his  only  ? 
Let  every  man  take  heed  that  he  be  not  found  naked, 
or  clothed  in  rags  and  shame.  Hold  fast  the  merits 
of  the  Redeemer  and  you  are  safe.  Let  them  go  and 
you  are  undone.  His  blood  alone  atones.  His  right- 
eousness alone  justifies. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 


TIIE   OFFICE   OF   FAITH   IN   JUSTIFICATION. 

The  Scriptures  abound  with  assertions  that  our  jus- 
tification is  by  faith.  Thus  Habakkuk  says :  "  The 
just  shall  live  by  faith."  Chap.  ii.  4.  Some  would 
read  the  passage  thus,  "  The  just  by  faith  shall  live." 
There  is  no  solid  ground  of  objection  to  this  render- 
ing, for  it  really  asserts  but  the  same  thing  now  taught 
by  it.  We  are  at  no  loss  for  the  sense  of  this  passage  ; 
for  we  have  an  inspired  interpretation  of  it  given  by 
Paul.  Indeed  it  seems  to  have  been  a  very  favourite 
text  with  him.  He  quotes  it  in  Rom.  i.  17,  Gal.  iii. 
11,  Heb.  x.  38.  But  we  may  go  further  back  than 
the  days  of  Habakkuk,  even  to  the  time  of  Abraham. 
Of  him  we  read :  "  And  he  believed  in  the  Lord  and 
he  counted  it  to  him  for  righteousness."  Gen.  xv.  6. 
This  passage  is  no  less  celebrated  than  that  already 
quoted.  It  is  also  divinely  interpreted  by  the  inspira- 
tion of  God  in  Rom.  iv.  1 — 6,  Gal.  iii.  6 — 14.  Upon 
the  first  part  of  Romans  iv.  Beza  well  says  :  "  From 
this  single  example  of  Abraham,  as  deservedly  selected 
from  among  all  the  fathers,  the  apostle  intended  to 
draw  a  conclusion,  which  would  necessarily  take  in  all 
believers.  And  that  he  might  do  this  fairly,  he  inti- 
mates at  the  very  entrance  of  the  question,  that  he 
did  not  propose  Abraham  as  one  of  the  number  of  be- 
lievers, but  as  the  father  of  the  Church ;  that  he  might 

(243) 


244         THE  OFFICE  OF  FAITH  IN  JUSTIFICATION. 

properly  reason  from  the  father  to  his  children,  the 
foundation  of  which  he  lays  in  the  thirteenth  verse. 

*  *  In  whatever  way  Abraham,  the  father  of  believers 
was  justified,  in  the  same  must  all  his  children  (that  is 
all  believers)  be  justified  ;  but  Abraham  was  not  justi- 
fied, and  made  the  father  of  the  faithful,  by  any  of 
his  own  works,  either  preceding  or  following  his  faith 
in  Christ,  as  promised  to  him  ;  but  merely  by  faith  in 
Christ,  or  the  merit  of  Christ  by  faith  imputed  to  him 
for  righteousness.  Therefore  all  his  children  become 
his  children  and  are  justified,  not  by  their  works, 
either  preceding  or  following  their  faith ;  but  by  faith 
alone  in  the  same  Christ,  who  was  at  length  to  come ; 

*  *  and  thus  they  are  at  present  justified,  and  shall 
be  to  the  end  of  the  world."  And  so  "  they  which  be 
of  faith  shall  be  blessed  with  faithful  Abraham. "  Gal. 
iii.  9.  Indeed  the  Scriptures  are  very  explicit  on  this 
point:  "  A  man  is  not  justified  by  the  works  of  the 
law,  but  by  the  faith  of  Jesus  Christ."  Gal.  ii.  16. 
"  Being  justified  by  faith,  we  have  peace  with  God 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  Rom.  v.  1.  "  The 
law  was  our  schoolmaster  to  bring  us  to  Christ,  that 
we  might  be  justified  by  faith."  Gal.  iii.  24.  "Thou 
standest  by  faith."  Rom.  xi.  20.  "God  shall  justify 
the  circumcision  by  faith,  and  the  uncircumcision 
through  faith."  Rom.  iii.  30.  Many  other  texts  are 
no  less  clear. 

But  what  is  the  meaning  of  the  expression  "  we  are 
justified  by  faith?"  How  are  we  justified  by  faith? 
Why  are  we  never  said  to  be  justified  by  other  Chris- 
tian graces?  Humility  is  an  excellent  grace,  much 
commended  in  Scripture,  and  putting  U3  where  we 
ought  to  be,  in  the  dust.     Meekness  bears  with  pity 


THE  OFFICE  OF  FAITH  IN  JUSTIFICATION.         245 

and  forgiveness  outrageous  wrongs  heaped  upon  us, 
and  so  makes  us  like  Christ,  who  was  brought  as  a 
lamb   to   the   slaughter,    and   as   a   sheep  before  her 
shearers  is  dumb,  so  he  opened  not  his  mouth.     Hope 
is  an  anchor  to  the  soul,  both  sure  and  steadfast,  and 
being  lively,  animates  the   soul  in  all  times  of  trial. 
Charity  with  her  broad  mantle  covers  the  faults  of 
others,  fills  the  world  with  the  fame  of  her  deeds,  and 
never  faileth.     Penitence  sits  at  the  feet  of  Jesus  and 
bathes  them  with  its  tears.     The  fear  of  the  Lord  is 
a  fountain  of  life  to  depart  from  the  snares  of  death. 
Excellent  as  all  these  graces  are,  yet  it  is  nowhere  said 
in  Scripture  that  a  man  is  justified  by  fear,  by  charity, 
by  penitence,  by  hope,  by  meekness,  or  by  humility. 
But  he  is  often  said  to  be  justified  by  faith.     God  does 
not  put  this  honour  upon  faith  because  it  is  greater 
than  other  graces,  for  it  is  not.  1  Cor.  xiii.  18.     Love 
is  greater.     So  are  all  graces,  which  shall  flourish  for 
ever.     But  the  reason  why  faith  justifies  is  because  it 
receives  Christ.     In  the  language  of  the  Bible,  to  re- 
ceive Christ  is  to  believe  on  him.     "  To  as  many  as 
received  him  to  them  gave  he  power  to  become  the 
sons  of  God,  even  to  as  many  as  believed  on  his  name." 
John  i.  12.     The  hand  of  the  beggar  receives  the  loaf, 
which  charity  offers  him,  and  so  he  is  fed  by  his  hand 
and  not  by  another  member  of  his  body.     To  believe 
in  Christ  is  in  Scripture  said  to  be  "looking  to  him." 
Isa.  xlv.  22,  Heb.  xii.  2.     Now  although  he,  who  looks, 
may  have  all  his  other  senses,  and  in  other  respects 
they  may  be  of  eminent  use  to  him,  yet  he  sees  only 
with  his  eyes.     Faith  is  the  vision  of  the  new-born 
soul.     It  looks  back  thousands  of  years.     "  Through 
faith  we  understand  that  the  worlds  were  made."  Heb. 
21* 


246         THE  OFFICE  OF  FAITH  IN  JUSTIFICATION. 

xi.  3.  It  looks  forward  also  thousands  of  years, 
"  Abraham  rejoiced  to  see  my  clay  and  he  saw  it  and 
was  glad."  John  viii.  56.  And  as  the  dying  Israelite 
looked  to  the  brazen  serpent  and  was  healed,  so  do 
perishing  sinners  look  by  faith  to  Jesus  and  are  saved. 
They  look  and  live.  Faith  is  a  reliance  upon  testi- 
mony, and  saving  faith  has  special  regard  to  the  testi- 
mony of  God  concerning  his  Son.  Even  to  men  we 
extend  our  belief  of  their  word  in  certain  circumstances. 
But  "  if  we  receive  the  witness  of  men,  the  witness  of 
God  is  greater  :  for  this  is  the  witness  of  God,  which 
he  hath  testified  of  his  Son.  He  that  believeth  on  the 
Son  of  God  hath  the  witness  in  himself;  he  that  be- 
lieveth not  God  hath  made  him  a  liar,  because  he  be- 
lieveth not  the  record  that  God  gave  of  his  Son.  And 
this  is  the  record,  that  God  hath  given  to  us  eternal 
life ;  and  this  life  is  in  his  Son.  He  that  hath  the 
Son  hath  life ;  and  he  that  hath  not  the  Son  of  God 
hath  not  life."  1  John  v.  9 — 12.  So  that  he,  who  be- 
lieves he  has  need  of  a  Saviour  and  credits  this  testi- 
mony of  God,  does  rest  the  whole  weight  of  his  salva- 
tion here  and  not  elsewhere.  He  takes  Christ  as  his 
sole,  sufficient  Redeemer.  Faith  justifies  us  only  as 
it  receives  Jesus  Christ  as  "  the  Lord  our  Righteous- 
ness." It  takes  the  robe  he  has  wrought  and  puts  it 
on,  and  so  hides  the  nakedness  of  the  soul.  The 
Westminster  Confession  says :  "  Justifying  faith  is  a 
saving  grace,  wrought  in  the  heart  of  a  sinner,  by  the 
Spirit  and  word  of  God  ;  whereby  he,  being  convinced 
of  his  sin  and  misery,  and  of  the  disability  of  himself 
and  all  other  creatures  to  recover  him  out  of  his  lost 
condition,  not  only  assenteth  to  the  truth  of  the  pro- 
mise of  the  gospel,  but  receiveth  and  resteth  upon 


THE  OFFICE  OF  FAITH  IN  JUSTIFICATION.         247 

Christ  and  his  righteousness  therein  held  forth,  for  the 
pardon  of  sin,  and  for  the  accepting  and  accounting 
of  his  person  righteous  in  the  sight  of  God  for  sal- 
vation." 

Eishop  Hall  says  :  "The  spiritual  hand  whereby  we 
receive  the  sweet  offer  of  our  Saviour  is  faith ;  which 
in  short  is  no  other  than  an  affiance  in  the  Mediator. 
Receive  peace,  and  be  happy ;  believe,  and  thou  hast 
received." 

Usher  says  :  "  Justifying  faith  consists  in  these  two 
things,  in  having  a  mind  to  know  Christ,  and  a  will  to 
rest  upon  him.  Whosoever  sees  so  much  excellency  in 
Christ,  that  thereby  he  is  drawn  to  embrace  him  as  the 
only  Rock  of  salvation,  that  man  truly  believes  to  jus- 
tification." 

Others  very  well  represent  the  office  of  faith  when 
they  say  that  by  means  of  it  a  union  is  formed  be- 
tween Christ  and  believers.  Thus  Luther  says : 
"  Faith  unites  the  soul  with  Christ  as  a  spouse  with 
her  husband.  Everything  which  Christ  has,  becomes 
the  property  of  the  believing  soul ;  everything  which 
the  soul  has,  becomes  the  property  of  Christ.  Christ 
possesses  all  blessings  and  eternal  life — they  are 
thenceforth  the  property  of  the  soul.  The  soul  has 
all  its  iniquities  and  sins :  they  become  thenceforward 
the  property  of  Christ.  It  is  then  that  a  blessed 
change  commences  :  Christ,  who  is  both  God  and  man, 
Christ  who  has  never  sinned,  and  whose  holiness  is 
perfect,  Christ  the  Almighty,  and  Eternal,  taking  to 
himself,  by  his  nuptial  ring  of  faith,  all  the  sins  of  the 
believer,  those  sins  are  lost  and  abolished  in  him  ;  for 
no  sins  dwell  before  his  infinite  righteousness.  Thus, 
by  faith,  the  believer's  soul  is  delivered  from  sins,  and 


248         THE  OFFICE  OF  FAITH  IN  JUSTIFICATION. 

clothed  with  the  eternal  righteousness  of  her  bridegroom, 
Christ.  0  happy  union  !  the  rich,  the  noble,  the  holy 
Bridegroom  takes  in  marriage  his  poor,  guilty  and  de- 
spised spouse,  delivers  her  from  every  evil,  and  enriches 
her  with  the  most  precious  blessings.  Christ,  a  King 
and  a  Priest,  shares  this  honour  and  glory  with  all 
Christians.  The  Christian  is  a  king,  and  consequently 
possesses  all  things ;  he  is  a  priest,  and  consequently 
possesses  God,  and  it  is  faith,  not  works,  which  brings 
him  all  this  honour.  A  Christian  is  free  from  all 
things,  above  all  things,  faith  giving  him  richly  all 
things."  Should  any  be  startled  at  such  expressions 
as  uhe  possesses  God,"  let  them  consider  the  import 
of  these  words  :  "  Thou  art  my  portion,  0  Lord."  Psa. 
cxix.  57;  "God  is  our  refuge  and  strength."  Psa. 
xlvi.  1  ;  "I  am  the  Lord  thy  God,"  and  many  such 
expressions  of  Scripture.  On  the  other  hand  how 
many  scores  of  times  does  God  call  the  saints,  "  my  peo- 
ple," "the  lot  of  mine  inheritance,"  "my  redeemed," 
"my  love,"  &c.  "All  grace  flows  from  Christ  united 
to  the  soul,  as  all  life  flows  from  the  soul  united  to  the 
body."  This  jinion  between  Christ  and  believers 
shall  never  be  broken.  It  is  in  perpetuity  as  to  all  its 
blessed  consequences. 

From  all  that  has  been  said,  it  is  very  evident  that 
there  is  no  merit  in  our  believing,  though  by  believing 
we  become  interested  in  the  merits  of  Christ.  If  faith 
itself,  the  act  of  believing,  were  the  ground  of  our 
acceptance,  it  would  certainly  be  works,  even  the  work 
of  faith.  And  as  no  man's  faith  is  absolutely  perfect, 
we  should  then  have  justification  by  a  work  full  of 
imperfection.  Faith  is  indeed  the  instrument,  but  not 
the  ground ;  the  means,  but  not  the  cause  of  our  justi- 


THE   OFFICE    OF   FAITH   IN   JUSTIFICATION.       249 

fi cation.  If  faith  itself  were  the  ground  of  our  ac- 
ceptance, it  would  be  our  saviour,  and  it  would  be 
entitled  to  all  the  glory  of  our  salvation.  And  as 
faith  is  an  act  of  the  soul,  each  man  would  then  be 
entitled  to  the  full  honour  of  his  own  salvation ;  and 
instead  of  boasting  being  excluded,  as  Paul  says  (Rom. 
iii.  27,)  all  heaven  would  be  filled  with  it,  and  each 
man  would  have  a  right  to  say  that  he  came  thither 
by  his  own  act,  merit  and  virtue.  And  where  then 
would  be  the  glory  of  Christ  ?  His  reward  would  con- 
sist in  nothing.  Those,  who  should  be  saved,  would 
owe  him  nothing.  They  would  have  saved  themselves. 
To  be  justified  by  faith  itself  as  the  ground  of  accept- 
ance would  surely  be  to  be  "justified  by  works  of 
righteousness,  which  we  had  done,"  and  Paul  says  this 
is  impossible. 

The  faith,  by  which  a  soul  is  united  to  Christ,  is 
itself  the  gift  of  God,  and  a  gift,  which  never  could 
have  been  bestowed  but  for  the  finished  work  of  Christ. 
That  it  is  a  gift  from  God  is  declared  in  Matt.  xvi.  16, 
17,  in  John  i.  13,  in  Rom.  xii.  3,  in  Eph.  ii.  8,  in  Phil, 
i.  29,  and  in  many  other  places.  The  Saviour  is  ex- 
pressly called  "  the  author  and  finisher  of  our  faith." 
Heb.  xii.  1.  Again  it  is  expressly  ascribed  to  God's 
Spirit :  "The  fruit  of  the  Spirit  is  faith."  Gal.  v.  22. 
How  then  could  itself  be  any  just  ground  of  acquit- 
ting the  guilty,  and  of  taking  the  undeserving  into  the 
favour  of  God  ?  Faith  makes  no  satisfaction  for  sin. 
Faith  even  when  genuine  is  not  in  any  case  perfect 
and  blameless.  Should  we  have  no  better  righteous- 
ness than  this  in  which  to  appear  before  God,  his  holy 
eye  would  behold  rents  in  every  part  of  it.  So  that 
the  Scriptures  ascribe  even  our  believing  to  the  amaz- 


250        THE  OFFICE  OF  FAITH  IX  JUSTIFICATION. 

ing  kindness  of  God.  In  Acts  xviii.  27,  men  are  in  so 
many  words  said  to  have  "  believed  through  grace.'' 

These  general  views  of  the  subject  are  common  to 
all  evangelical  Christians.  The  Augsburg  Confession 
says :  "  Christ  is  given  for  a  Mediator  to  us,  and  this 
honour  is  not  to  be  transferred  unto  our  works.  When 
therefore  we  do  say  that  '  we  are  justified  by  faith,' 
we  do  not  mean  that  we  are  just  for  the  worthiness  of 
that  virtue ;  but  this  is  our  meaning  :  that  we  do  ob- 
tain remission  of  sins  and  imputation  of  righteousness 
by  mercy  shown  us  for  Christ's  sake.  But  now  this 
mercy  cannot  be  received  but  by  faith.  *  *  When 
Paul  saith,  '  Faith  is  reckoned  for  righteousness,'  he 
speaketh  of  a  trust  and  confidence  of  mercy,  promised 
for  Christ's  sake ;  and  his  meaning  is,  that  men  are 
pronounced  righteous,  that  is,  reconciled,  through 
mercy  promised  for  Christ's  sake,  whom  we  must  re- 
ceive by  faith.  Now  the  novelty  of  this  figurative 
speech  of  Paul,  '  We  are  justified  by  faith,'  will  not 
offend  holy  minds,  if  they  understand  that  it  is  spoken 
properly  of  mercy,  and  that  herein  mercy  is  adorned 
with  true  and  due  praises.  For  what  can  be  more  ac- 
ceptable to  an  afflicted  and  fearful  conscience  in  great 
griefs,  than  to  hear  that  this  is  the  commandment  of 
God,  and  the  voice  of  the  Bridegroom,  Christ  Jesus, 
that  they  should  undoubtedly  believe,  that  remission 
of  sins,  or  reconciliation,  is  given  unto  them,  not  for 
their  own  worthiness,  but  freely,  through  mercy,  for 
Christ's  sake,  that  the  benefit  might  be  certain." 

The  Latter  Confession  of  Helvetia  says :  "  Because 
faith  doth  apprehend  Christ  our  righteousness,  and  doth 
attribute  all  to  the  praise  of  God  in  Christ,  in  this 
respect  justification  is  attributed  to  faith  chiefly  be- 
cause of  Christ,  whom  it  receiveth,  and  not  because 


THE  OFFICE  OF  FAITH  IN  JUSTIFICATION.         251 

it  is  a  work  of  ours.  For  it  is  the  gift  of  God.  Now, 
that  we  do  receive  Christ  by  faith,  the  Lord  showeth 
at  large,  in  the  sixth  chapter  of  John,  where  he  putteth 
eating  for  believing,  and  believing  for  eating.  For  as 
by  eating  we  receive  meat,  so  by  believing  we  are  made 
partakers  of  Christ." 

The  Confession  of  Bohemia  speaking  "  of  true  justifi- 
cation of  faith"  says  :  "  This  faith  properly  is  an  assent 
of  a  willing  heart  to  the  whole  truth  delivered  in  the 
gospel,  whereby  man  is  enlightened  in  his  mind  and 
soul,  that  he  may  rightly  acknowledge  and  receive  for 
his  only  Saviour,  his  God,  and  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
upon  him,  as  on  a  true  rock,  he  may  build  his  whole 
salvation,  love,  follow  and  enjoy  him,  and  repose  all 
his  hope  and  confidence  in  him."  "  But  the  lively  and 
never  dying  spring  of  justification  is  in  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  alone,  by  those  his  saving  works,  that  is,  which 
give  salvation." 

The  Confession  of  Belgia  says :  "  True  faith  doth 
embrace  Jesus  Christ,  with  all  his  merits,  doth  chal- 
lenge him  unto  itself,  as  proper  and  peculiar,  and  doth 
seek  for  nothing  besides  him."  "  He,  who  by  faith 
possesseth  Jesus  Christ,  hath  also  perfect  salvation." 
"  Yet  to  speak  properly,  we  do  not  mean  that  faith  by 
itself,  or  of  itself,  doth  justify  us,  which  is  but  only  as 
an  instrument,  whereby  we  apprehend  Christ,  who  is 
our  righteousness.  Christ  therefore  himself  is  our 
righteousness,  which  imputeth  all  his  merits  unto  us." 
The  London  and  Philadelphia  Baptist  Confessions,  the 
Confessions  of  the  Savoy,  Cambridge  and  Boston,  and 
the  Confessions  of  Presbyterian  Churches  generally  in 
Great  Britain  and  America  agree  in  saying,  "  Faith 
receiving  and  resting  on  Christ  and  his  righteousness, 
is  the  alone  instrument  of  justification ;  yet  is  not 


252         THE  OFFICE  OF  FAITH  IN  JUSTIFICATION. 

alone  in  the  person  justified,  but  is  ever  accompanied 
with  all  other  saving  graces,  and  is  no  dead  faith  but 
worketh  by  love."  Some  of  the  old  writers  quaintly 
say,  "  We  are  justified  by  faith  sole,  but  not  solitary." 

Leighton  says  :  "  True  it  is,  that  this  faith  purifies 
the  heart,  and  works  holiness,  and  all  graces  flow  from 
it ;  but  in  this  work  of  justifying  the  sinner,  it  is 
alone,  and  cannot  admit  of  any  mixture,  as  Luther's 
resemblance  is,  '  Faith  is  as  the  bride  with  Christ  in 
the  bed-chamber  alone,  but  when  she  cometh  forth, 
hath  the  attendance  and  train  of  her  graces  with 
her.'" 

The  Synod  of  Dort  says :  "  To  as  many  as  truly 
believe,  and  through  the  death  of  Christ  are  delivered 
and  saved  from  sin  and  condemnation,  this  benefit 
comes  from  the  sole  grace  of  God,  which  he  owes  to 
no  man,  given  them  in  Christ  from  eternity." 

The  Welch  Calvinistic  Methodists'  Confession  says : 
"  It  would  be  as  improper  to  attribute  the  righteous- 
ness of  Christ  to  faith  [itself],  as  to  attribute  the 
light  of  the  sun  to  the  medium  through  which  it  is 
transmitted  to  us." 

Further  testimonies  are  needless.  How  clear  and 
harmonious  is  God's  way  of  saving  sinners !  And 
how  safe  is  it  to  follow  him  in  all  things !  Holiness 
no  less  than  bliss  follows  a  true  faith.  "  Reliance  is 
the  essence  of  faith.  Christ  is  the  object,  the  word 
is  the  food,  and  obedience  the  proof;  so  that  true 
faith  is  a  depending  upon  Christ  for  salvation  in  the 
way  of  obedience,  as  he  is  offered  in  the  word."  Well 
may  all  give  thanks  for  such  a  gift.  It  is  the  earnest 
of  salvation. 

"  Peace  be  to  the  brethren,  and  love  with  faith 
from  God  our  Father  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 


CHAPTER    XXIX 


WHY   GOOD   WORKS   ARE   NECESSARY. 

The  Church  of  Christ  has  uniformly  insisted  upon 
good  works  as  being  pleasing  and  honourable  to  God, 
as  being  the  evidences  of  faith  and  the  fruits  of  love, 
and  as  being  profitable  to  our  neighbour.  The  Scrip- 
tures are  as  careful  to  insist  that  good  works  be  per- 
formed, as  they  are  to  warn  us  against  trusting  in 
them  for  justification  before  God.  They  are  often 
commanded  in  the  plainest  terms.  "  Depart  from  evil 
and  do  good."  Psa.  xxxiv.  14.  "  Trust  in  the  Lord 
and  do  good."  Psa.  xxxvii.  3.  "Let  your  light  so 
shine  before  men,  that  they  may  see  your  good  works, 
and  glorify  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven."  Matt.  v. 
16.  "  Dearly  beloved,  I  beseech  you  as  strangers  and 
pilgrims,  abstain  from  fleshly  lusts,  which  war  against 
the  soul;  having  your  conversation  honest  among  the 
gentiles  :  that  whereas  they  speak  against  you  as  evil- 
doers, they  may  by  your  good  works,  which  they  shall 
behold,  glorify  God  in  the  day  of  visitation."  1  Pet. 
ii.  11,  12.  "Herein  is  my  Father  glorified,  that  ye 
bear  much  fruit,  so  shall  ye  be  my  disciples."  John 
xv.  8.  "Walk  worthy  of  the  Lord  unto  all  pleasing, 
being  fruitful  in  every  good  work."  Tit.  iii.  1.  "These 
things  I  will  that  thou  affirm  constantly,  that  they  who 
have  believed  in  God,  might  be  careful  to  maintain 
good  works.  These  things  are  good  and  profitable 
22  ( 253 ) 


254  WHY  GOOD  WORKS  ARE  NECESSARY. 

unto  men."  Tit.  iii.  8.  "  Let  ours  also  learn  to  main- 
tain good  works  for  necessary  uses."  Tit.  iii.  14. 

These  are  but  specimens  of  scores  of  texts  of  Scrip- 
ture, which  assert  the  necessity  of  good  works  in  all, 
who  would  glorify  God,  be  useful  to  their  generation, 
or  evince  a  true  Christian  character.  There  is  no  sub- 
stitute for  a  life  of  holiness. 

Nothing  is  a  good  work  unless  it  is  something  com- 
manded by  God.  Human  inventions  may  please  men, 
win  the  applause  of  the  ignorant,  and  build  up  in  us  a 
vain  self-confidence.  But  "  who  hath  required  this  at 
your  hand?"  is  a  terrible  challenge  from  God  to  all 
who  follow  such  devices.  It  was  a  great  complaint  of 
God  against  some,  "  this  people  draw  near  me  with 
their  mouth,  and  with  their  lips  do  honour  me,  but 
have  removed  their  heart  far  from  me,  and  their  fear 
toward  me  is  taught  by  the  precepts  of  men."  Isa. 
xxix.  13.  And  Christ  said  of  some ;  "  In  vain  do 
they  worship  me,  teaching  for  doctrines  the  command- 
ments of  men."  Matt.  xv.  9. 

The  symbols  of  the  various  Churches  of  Christ  are 
remarkably  clear  and  harmonious  on  the  subject  of 
works.  Here  is  the  testimony  of  the  Confession  of 
Sueveland  :  "  We  are  so  far  from  rejecting  good  works, 
that  we  do  utterly  deny  that  any  man  can  fully  be 
saved  except  that  he  be  thus  far  brought  by  the  Spirit 
of  Christ,  that  he  find  no  want  at  all  in  him,  touching 
those  good  works  whereunto  God  hath  created  him." 
A  declaration  this  parallel  to  these,  "Without  faith  it 
is  impossible  to  please  God,"  and  "  Without  holiness 
no  man  shall  see  the  Lord."  The  Confession  of  Wir- 
temburg  says  "  that  good  works,  commanded  of  God, 
are   necessarily   to   be   done."      The   Confession   of 


WHY  GOOD  WORKS  ARE  NECESSARY.  255 

Saxony  says  :  "  Obedience,  and  the  righteousness  of  a 
good  conscience,  must  be  begun  in  this  life ;  and  this 
obedience,  although  it  be  very  far  from  that  perfection, 
which  the  law  requireth,  is  nevertheless,  in  the  regene- 
rate, acceptable  to  God,  for  the  Mediator's  sake :  who 
maketh  request  for  us,  and  by  his  merit  doth  cover  our 
great  and  unspeakable  miseries."  The  Confession  of 
Scotland  says,  "  That  God  hath  given  to  man  his  holy 
law,  in  which  not  only  are  forbidden  all  such  works  as 
displease  and  offend  his  godly  majesty,  but  also,  are 
commanded  all  such  as  please  him,  and  as  he  hath 
promised  to  reward.  Exod.  xx.  1 — 17.  Deut.  v.  1 — 21. 
And  these  works  be  of  two  sorts.  The  one  are  done 
to  the  honour  of  God,  the  other  to  the  profit  of  our 
neighbours."  The  Confession  of  England  says,  "Though 
we  say  we  have  no  shelter  at  all  in  our  own  works  and 
deeds,  but  appoint  all  the  means  of  our  salvation  to  be 
in  Christ  alone ;  yet  say  we  not  that  for  this  cause 
men  ought  to  live  loosely  and  dissolutely  :  nor  that  it 
is  enough  for  a  Christian  to  be  baptized  only,  and  to 
believe  ;  as  though  there  were  nothing  else  required  at 
his  hand.  For  true  faith  is  lively,  and  can  in  no  wise 
be  idle.  Thus  therefore  teach  we  the  people :  that 
God  hath  called  us,  not  to  follow  riot  and  wantonness, 
but  as  St.  Paul  saith,  *  unto  good  works,  to  walk  in 
them ;'  Ephes.  ii.  10 ;  that  we  are  delivered  from  the 
power  of  darkness,  (Col.  i.  13);  to  the  end  that  we 
should  serve  the  living  God,  (Heb.  ix.  14);  to  cut 
away  all  the  remnants  of  sin,  and  to  work  out  our  sal- 
vation with  fear  and  trembling,  (Phil.  ii.  12) ;  that  it 
may  appear  that  the  Spirit  of  sanctification  is  in  our 
bodies,  and  that  Christ  himself  dwelleth  in  our  bodies." 
The  Confession  of  France  says  :  "  So  far  is  faith  from 


256  WHY  GOOD  WORKS  ARE  NECESSARY. 

extinguishing  the  desire  to  live  well  and  holily,  that  it 
doth  rather  increase  and  kindle  it  in  us  :  whereupon 
good  works  do  necessarily  follow."  The  Confession 
of  Bohemia  having  quoted  at  length  2  Pet.  i.  5 — 8, 
2  Cor.  iii.  10,  2  Pet.  i.  11,  12,  Luke  vi.  36,  88,  and 
xii.  33,  and  xiv.  13, 14,  says,  "By  these  it  is  plain  and 
manifest  that  those  works  which  proceed  of  faith,  do 
please  God,  and  are  rewarded  with  abundant  grace : 
to  wit,  with  the  recompense  of  all  kind  of  good  things 
and  blessings,  both  in  this  life  and  in  the  life  to  come." 
The  Heidelberg  Catechism  under  the  head  of  Thank- 
fulness thus  speaks : 

"  86.  Since  then  we  are  delivered  from  our  misery, 
merely  of  grace  through  Christ,  without  any  merit  of 
ours,  why  must  we  still  do  good  works  ? 

"Because  that  Christ,  having  redeemed  us  and  de- 
livered us  by  his  blood,  also  renews  us  by  his  Holy 
Spirit,  after  his  own  image ;  so  that  we  may  testify, 
by  the  whole  of  our  conduct  our  gratitude  to  God  for 
his  blessings,  and  that  he  may  be  praised  by  us ;  also, 
that  every  one  may  be  assured  in  himself  of  his  faith, 
by  the  fruits  thereof;  and  that  by  our  godly  conver- 
sation others  may  be  gained  to  Christ. 

"  87.  Cannot  they  then  be  saved,  who,  continuing  in 
their  wicked  and  ungrateful  lives,  are  not  converted  to 
God? 

"  By  no  means  ;  for  the  holy  Scripture  declares  that 
no  unchaste  person,  idolater,  adulterer,  thief,  covetous 
man,  drunkard,  slanderer,  robber,  or  any  such  like, 
shall  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God. 

"  88.  In  how  many  parts  doth  the  true  conversion 
of  man  consist  ? 

"  In  two  parts ;  in  the  mortification  of  the  old,  and 
in  the  quickening  of  the  new  man. 


WHY  GOOD  WORKS  ARE  NECESSARY.  257 

"  89.  "What  is  the  mortification  of  the  old  man  ? 

"  It  is  a  sincere  sorrow  of  heart,  that  we  have  pro- 
voked God  by  our  sins ;  and  more  and  more  to  hate 
and  flee  from  them. 

"  90.  What  is  the  quickening  of  the  new  man  ? 

"  It  is  a  sincere  joy  of  heart  in  God,  through  Christ, 
and  with  love  and  delight  to  live  according  to  the  will 
of  God  in  all  good  works. 

"  91.  But  what  are  good  works  ? 

"  Only  those  which  proceed  from  a  true  faith,  are 
performed  according  to  the  law  of  God,  and  to  his 
glory,  and  not  such  as  are  founded  on  our  imagination 
or  the  institutions  of  men." 

The  Confession  of  Basle  says :  "  The  faithful  do 
work,  not  to  satisfy  for  their  sins,  but  only  that  they 
may  in  some  sort  show  themselves  thankful  unto  God 
our  Lord  for  the  great  benefits  bestowed  upon  us  in 
Christ."  The  former  Confession  of  Helvetia  says, 
"  This  is  indeed  the  only  true  worship  of  God :  to  wit, 
a  faith  most  fruitful  of  good  works,  and  yet  not  put- 
ting any  confidence  in  works."  The  latter  Confession 
of  Helvetia  says,  "  We  condemn  all  those,  who  do  con- 
temn good  works,  and  do  babble  that  they  are  need- 
less, and  not  to  be  regarded."  Again,  "  Works  do  ne- 
cessarily proceed  from  faith."  The  Church  of  Eng- 
land says  that  "  good  works  are  the  fruits  of  faith  and 
follow  after  justification,"  and  that  "  they  are  pleasing 
and  acceptable  to  God  in  Christ,  and  do  spring  out  ne- 
cessarily of  a  true  and  lively  faith,  insomuch  that  by 
them  a  lively  faith  may  be  as  evidently  known,  as  a 
tree  is  discerned  by  the  fruit."  The  Church  of  Ire- 
land uses  almost  the  very  same  words  and  in  the  same 
connection.     The  Westminster  Confession  says,  "  The 


258  WHY  GOOD  WOEKS  ARE  NECESSARY. 

persons  of  believers  being  accepted  through  Christ, 
their  good  works  also  are  accepted  in  him ;  not  as 
though  they  were  in  this  life  wholly  unblamable  and 
unreprovable  in  God's  sight,  but  that  he,  looking  upon 
them  in  his  Son,  is  pleased  to  accept  and  reward  that 
which  is  sincere,  although  accompanied  with  many 
weaknesses  and  imperfections."  So  that  unless  men 
intend  to  abandon  themselves  to  wickedness,  despise 
God's  authority,  and  fly  in  the  face  of  the  testimony 
of  all  true  Christians,  they  must  lead  lives  of  holiness 
and  obedience.  Indeed  the  uniform  teaching  of  Scrip- 
ture is  that  while  no  man  shall  be  saved  for  the  merit 
of  his  works,  yet  men  shall  be  judged  and  treated  ac- 
cording to  their  works.  The  wicked  deserve  all  that 
shall  come  upon  them  by  want  of  good  works  and  their 
performance  of  evil  works.  The  righteous  do  not 
indeed  deserve  any  good  thing,  yet  of  his  mercy  and 
grace  God  will  at  last  reward  them,  as  though  they 
deserved  much.  Thus  we  read  :  "  The  work  of  a  man 
will  God  render  unto  him,  and  cause  every  man  to  find 
according  to  his  ways."  Job  xxxiv.  11.  "Thou  ren- 
derest  to  every  man  according  to  his  work."  Psa.  lxii. 
12.  "  Say  ye  to  the  righteous,  that  it  shall  be  well 
with  him :  for  they  shall  eat  the  fruit  of  their  doings. 
Woe  unto  the  wicked  !  it  shall  be  ill  with  him  ;  for  the 
reward  of  his  hands  shall  be  given  him."  Isa.  iii.  10, 
11.  "  I  the  Lord  search  the  heart,  I  try  the  reins, 
even  to  give  every  man  according  to  his  ways,  and  ac- 
cording to  the  fruit  of  his  doings."  Jer.  xvii.  10. 
"  The  Son  of  man  shall  come  in  the  glory  of  his  Fa- 
ther, with  his  angels ;  and  then  he  shall  reward  every 
man  according  to  his  works."  Matt.  xvi.  27.  God 
*'  will  render  to  every  man  according  to  his  deeds." 


WHY  GOOD  WORKS  ARE  NECESSARY.  259 

Rom.  ii.  6.  See  also  2  Cor.  v.  10 ;  Col.  vi.  7 ;  Eph. 
vi.  8 ;  1  Pet.  i.  17 ;  Rev.  ii.  23,  and  xx.  12,  and  xxii. 
12.  So  that  the  doctrine  is  clear.  He  that  soweth 
sparingly  shall  reap  also  sparingly,  while  he  that  sows 
bountifully  shall  reap  also  bountifully.  He,  who  cared 
comparatively  little  for  the  cause  of  Christ,  and  did 
but  little  for  it,  shall  have  a  comparatively  small  re- 
ward, while  he  who  gave  up  all  and  lived  and  died  for 
Christ  shall  be  very  glorious.  "  One  star  differeth 
from  another  star  in  glory.  So  also  is  the  resurrec- 
tion from  the  dead."  To  render  mistake  on  this  doc- 
trine impossible  let  it  never  be  forgotten  that  the 
works  of  believers  will  not  be  the  cause  but  only  the 
occasion  of  their  many  rich  blessings ;  the  measure  but 
not  the  merit  of  their  reward. 

Nor  is  there  anything  in  this  contrary  to  the  doc- 
trine of  gratuitous  salvation ;  for  these  very  works 
themselves  are  the  fruit  of  God's  mercy  and  love.  He 
works  in  us  both  to  will  and  to  do  of  his  good  pleasure, 
and  then  kindly  takes  occasion  from  our  obedience  to 
measure  out  to  us,  of  his  own  love  and  bounty,  richer 
and  vaster  blessings  still.  That  our  works  themselves 
are  from  God  the  Bible  everywhere  teaches.  "  From 
me  is  thy  fruit  found."  Hos.  xiv.  8.  "Lord,  thou 
wilt  ordain  peace  for  us :  for  thou  also  hast  wrought 
all  our  works  in  us."  Isa.  xxvi.  12.  "  God  is  able  to 
make  all  grace  abound  toward  you  ;  that  ye,  always 
having  all  sufficiency  in  all  things,  may  abound  to  every 
good  work."  2  Cor.  ix.  8.  In  fact  Jesus  Christ  "gave 
himself  for  us  that  he  might  redeem  us  from  all  ini- 
quity, and  purify  unto  himself  a  peculiar  people,  zeal- 
ous of  good  works."  Titus  ii.  14.  "Faith  if  it  hath 
not  works  is  dead,  being  alone."  James  ii.  17.     And 


2G0  WIIY  GOOD  WORKS  ARE  NECESSARY. 

here  precisely  is  what  the  apostle  James  meant  when 
he  said  we  are  justified  by  works.  His  meaning  is 
that  we  are  justified  in  making  our  profession  of  faith, 
we  establish  our  sincerity  and  consistency,  we  prove  to 
all  the  world  and  to  God  himself  that  we  are  what  we 
profess  to  be  and  ought  to  be,  when  our  lives  show  forth 
the  glory  of  God.  Christian  brethren,  let  us  not  be 
weary  in  well-doing,  for  in  due  time  we  shall  reap  if 
we  faint  not.  Let  us  abound  unto  every  good  word 
and  work.  How  dishonourable  to  religion  it  would  be, 
if  it  were  otherwise.  Is  not  all  religion  an  entire  fail- 
ure, if  it  does  not  bring  us  into  conformity  to  God  ? 
"  Grace  is  an  immortal  seed,  cast  into  an  immortal 
soil,  that  brings  forth  immortal  fruit.  " 


CHAPTER   XXX, 


REGENERATION. 


From  first  to  last  salvation  is  all  of  grace.  Paul 
says :  "  We  ourselves  were  sometimes  foolish,  disobe- 
dient, deceived,  serving  divers  lusts  and  pleasures,  liv- 
ing in  malice  and  envy,  hateful,  and  hating  one  an- 
other. But  after  that  the  kindness  and  love  of  God 
our  Saviour  toward  man  appeared,  not  by  works  of 
righteousness,  which  we  have  done,  but  according  to 
his  mercy  he  saved  us,  by  the  washing  of  regeneration, 
and  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  he  shed  on  us 
abundantly,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour."  Tit. 
iii.  3 — 6.  So  that  it  is  clearly  by  the  grace  and  me- 
diation of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
is  sent  down  to  renew  our  natures,  and  to  accomplish 
in  us  the  new  birth.  Pardon  saves  a  sinner  from  the 
curse  of  the  law  and  the  lake  of  fire ;  acceptance 
through  Christ  gives  him  a  title  to  heaven;  but  in 
regeneration  the  dominion  of  sin  begins  to  be  destroyed, 
and  the  soul  begins  to  be  fitted  for  the  Master's  use. 
The  new  birth  is  a  great  mystery,  yet  it  is  much  in- 
sisted on  in  Scripture.  "  The  washing  of  regenera- 
tion" is  as  necessary  as  washing  in  the  blood  of  Christ. 
?  The  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost"  is  as  essential  as 
the  "justification  of  life."  Within  the  space  of  four 
verses  our  Lord  thrice  declares  how  necessary  it  is  to 
salvation.     Hear  him:   "Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto 

(261) 


262  REGENERATION. 

thee,  except  a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  see  the 
kingdom  of  God ;"  "Except  a  man  be  born  of  water, 
and  of  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
God;"  "Marvel  not  that  I  said  unto  thee,  Ye  must 
be  born  again."  John  iii.  3,  5,  7.  The  fallow  ground 
must  be  broken  up  or  the  good  seed  will  not  take  root 
in  our  hearts.  The  wild  olive  must  undergo  the  ope- 
ration of  engrafting  with  the  good  olive,  or  it  will 
remain  worthless.  All  the  Scriptures  teach  as  much. 
Christ  regarded  it  as  by  no  means  marvellous  that  a 
vile  sinner  must  undergo  a  great  spiritual  change,  be- 
fore he  could  be  fit  for  the  service  of  God. 

Perhaps  there  is  not  a  more  driveling  error  than 
that  which  teaches  that  baptism  with  water  is  the  re- 
generation, which  Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles  insist 
upon.  When  men  can  confound  the  u  washing  of  re- 
generation" with  the  washing  with  water,  they  are 
fully  prepared  to  follow,  in  fact  they  are  already  fol- 
lowing, in  the  footsteps  of  those,  who  confounded  "that 
circumcision,  which  is  outward  in  the  flesh,"  with  that 
circumcision,  which  is  "  of  the  heart,  in  the  spirit,  and 
not  in  the  letter ;  whose  praise  is  not  of  men,  but  of 
God."  Perhaps,  too,  no  error  is  more  mischievous 
than  this.  It  is  monstrous  that  such  error  and  folly 
should  be  taught  in  lands  where  God's  word  is  in  ge- 
neral use. 

To  baptism  some  add  an  outward  reformation  and 
insist  that  this  should  be  admitted  as  sufficient.  Sup- 
posing this  to  be  the  meaning  of  Christ  and  his  apos- 
tles, it  is  impossible  to  defend  them  from  the  charge 
of  using  very  mysterious  language  to  convey  so  simple 
an  idea.  But  such  a  belief  is  never  entertained  by 
those,  who  have  a  becoming  respect  for  God's  word. 


REGENERATION.  203 

It  will  therefore  claim  no  more  attention  at  this 
time. 

Sound  divines  have  very  remarkably  agreed  in  tell- 
ing us  what  regeneration  is.  Dr.  Witherspoon  says : 
"  A  new  birth  implies  an  universal  change.  It  must 
be  of  the  whole  man,  not  in  some  particular,  but  in  all 
without  exception."     And  he  shows  at  length  that  it 

is  not  PARTIAL,  EXTERNAL,  IMPERFECT,  but  that  it  is 
UNIVERSAL,  INWARD,  ESSENTIAL,  COMPLETE,  and  SU- 
PERNATURAL. 

Charnock  says :  "  Regeneration  is  a  mighty  and 
powerful  change,  wrought  in  the  soul  by  the  ef- 
ficacious working  of  the  holy  spirit,  wherein  a 
vital  principle,  a  new  habit,  the  law  of  god,  and 
a  divine  nature  are  put  into  and  framed  in  the 
heart,  enabling  it  to  act  holily  and  pleasingly 
to  God,  and  to  grow  up  therein  to  eternal  glory." 

Dr.  Thomas  Scott  quotes  with  approbation  another 
definition,  but  does  not  give  his  author.  He  says : 
"Regeneration  may  be  defined — 'A  change  wrought 
by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  the  understanding, 
will  and  affections  of  a  sinner,  which  is  the  commence- 
ment of  a  new  kind  of  life,  and  which  gives  another 
direction  to  his  judgment,  desires,  pursuits,  and  con- 
duct." 

Although  this  change  is  called  by  various  names, 
yet  the  doctrine  of  Scripture  respecting  it  is  uniform. 
Sometimes  it  is  called  a  holy  calling,  a  creation,  a  new 
creation,  a  translation,  a  circumcision  of  the  heart,  a 
resurrection  ;  but  whatever  be  the  name,  the  thing  sig- 
nified is  everywhere  spoken  of  in  very  solemn  terms 
and  as  a  rich  fruit  of  God's  grace.  Thus  says  Paul, 
"  It  pleased  God,  who  separated  me  from  my  mother's 


264  REGENERATION. 

womb,  and  called  me  by  his  grace,  to  reveal  his  Son 
in  me."  Gal.  i.  15,  16.  Again:  God  "hath  saved  us 
and  called  us  with  a  holy  calling,  not  according  to  our 
works  but  according  to  his  own  purpose  and  grace, 
which  was  given  us  in  Christ  Jesus  before  the  world 
began."  2  Tim.  i.  9.  Again  Peter  says  that  "the 
God  of  all  grace  hath  called  us  unto  his  eternal  glory 
by  Christ  Jesus."  1  Pet.  v.  10. 

Nor  have  the  purest  churches  ever  doubted  the  ne- 
cessity of  this  change.  They  also  remarkably  agree 
concerning  its  nature.  The  Westminster  Assembly 
teaches  that  u  God  is  pleased  in  his  appointed  and  ac- 
cepted time,  effectually  to  call  his  people  by  his  word 
and  Spirit  out  of  that  state  of  sin  and  death,  in  which 
they  are  by  nature,  to  grace  and  salvation  by  Jesus 
Christ;  enlightening  their  minds  spiritually  and  sa- 
vingly to  understand  the  things  of  God ;  taking  away 
their  heart  of  stone,  and  giving  them  a  heart  of  flesh ; 
renewing  their  wills,  and,  by  his  almighty  power,  de- 
termining them  to  that,  which  is  good,  and  effectually 
drawing  them  to  Jesus  Christ ;  yet  so  as  they  come 
most  freely,  being  made  willing  by  his  grace."  The 
Latter  Confession  of  Helvetia  says,  "  In  regeneration 
the  understanding  is  illuminated  by  the  Holy  Ghost, 
that  it  may  understand  both  the  mysteries  and  will  of 
God.  And  the  will  itself  is  not  only  changed  by  the 
Spirit,  but  is  also  endued  with  faculties,  that,  of  its 
own  accord,  it  may  will  and  do  good,"  and  quotes  in 
proof,  Rom.  viii.  4 ;  Jer.  xxxi.  83  ;  Ezek.  xxxvi.  27 ; 
John  viii.  36  ;  Phil.  i.  6,  29 ;  and  ii.  13.  The  Synod 
of  Dort  says,  "  This  regenerating  grace  of  God  work- 
eth  not  upon  men  as  if  they  were  stocks  and  stones, 
nor  doth  it  abolish  the  will  and  properties  of  their  will, 


REGENERATION.  265 

or  violently  constrain  it,  but  doth  spiritually  revive  it, 
heal  it,  rectify  it,  and  powerfully  yet  gently  bend  it : 
so  that  where  formerly  the  rebellion  of  the  flesh,  and 
stubbornness  did  domineer  without  control,  now  a  will- 
ing and  sincere  obedience  to  the  Spirit  begins  to  reign ; 
in  which  change  the  true  and  spiritual  rescue  and  free- 
dom of  our  will  doth  consist.  And  surely,  unless  the 
wonderful  Worker  of  all  goodness  should  deal  with  us 
in  this  sort,  there  were  no  hope  left  for  man  to  arise 
from  his  lapse  by  his  free-will,  through  which,  when 
standing,  he  threw  himself  headlong  into  destruction." 
The  truth  is  that  if  we  give  up  regeneration,  the  last 
hope  that  a  sinner  may  ever  again  be  either  holy  or 
happy  is  gone  for  ever.  The  Church  of  Ireland  holds 
that  "All  God's  elect  are  in  their  time  inseparably 
united  unto  Christ,  by  the  effectual  and  vital  influence 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  derived  from  him,  as  from  the  head, 
unto  every  true  member  of  his  mystical  body.  And 
being  thus  made  one  with  Christ  they  are  truly  regene- 
rated, and  made  partakers  of  him  and  all  his  benefits." 
Indeed  nothing  could  more  distress  one,  who  rightly 
considered  his  lost  estate,  than  to  have  the  hope, 
which  springs  from  the  doctrine  of  regeneration,  de- 
stroyed or  seriously  shaken.  In  other  words  God  does 
in  regeneration  but  graciously  respond  to  an  urgent 
demand  of  every  enlightened  conscience.  Every  man, 
who  has  ever  had  his  eyes  opened  to  see  his  own 
wretchedness  and  vileness,  will  agree  to  the  saying  of 
Usher  :  "  It  is  not  a  little  reforming  will  save  the  man, 
no,  nor  all  the  morality  of  the  world,  nor  all  the  com- 
mon graces  of  God's  Spirit,  nor  the  outward  change 
of  the  life  :  they  will  not  do,  unless  we  are  quickened 
and  have  a  new  life  wrought  in  us." 
23 


2G6  REGENERATION. 

In  his  old  age,  when  he  could  no  longer  see  to  read, 
John  Newton  heard  some  one  repeat  this  text,  "  By 
the  grace  of  God  I  am  what  I  am."  He  remained 
silent  a  short  time  and  then,  as  if  speaking  to  himself, 
he  said:  "I  am  not  what  I  ought  to  he.  Ah!  how 
imperfect  and  deficient !  I  am  not  what  I  wish  to  be. 
I  abhor  that  which  is  evil,  and  I  would  cleave  to  that 
which  is  good.  I  am  not  what  I  hope  to  be.  Soon, 
soon  I  shall  put  off  mortality,  and  with  mortality  all 
sin  and  imperfection.  Though  I  am  not  what  I  ought 
to  be,  what  I  wish  to  be,  and  what  I  hope  to  be,  yet  I 
can  truly  say,  I  am  not  what  I  once  was,  a  slave  to 
sin  and  Satan ;  I  can  heartily  join  with  the  apostle 
and  acknowledge,  '  By  the  grace  of  Cfod  I  am  what  I 
am:  " 

God's  people  are  born  three  times,  once  into  this 
world,  once  into  a  state  of  grace,  and  once  into  glory. 
They  and  the  finally  impenitent  have  the  first  and 
none  but  the  first  birth  in  common.  It  brings  the 
same  to  all.  "  That  which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh." 
This  natural  birth  is  a  great  wonder.  Devout  men 
have  always  so  regarded  it.  David  says,  "  Thou  art 
he  that  took  me  out  of  my  mother's  bowels  ;  my  praise 
shall  be  continually  of  thee."  Warm  should  be  the 
heart  and  thankful  should  be  the  song  of  her,  who  is 
made  the  joyful  mother  of  a  living  healthy  child.  To 
how  many  is  the  womb  the  grave.  The  wonder  is  that 
it  is  not  so  to  more.  Every  good  man  is  ready  to  say, 
"  I  bless  God  that  ever  I  was  born." 
*  "  Those  born  once  only,  die  twice.  They  die  a  tem- 
poral, and  they  die  an  eternal  death.  But  those  who 
are  born  twice,  die  only  once ;  for  over  them  the  se- 
cond death  has  no  power." 


REGENERATION.  267 

Our  second  birth  brings  us  into  a  state  of  grace.  It 
is  one  of  the  richest  of  God's  covenanted  mercies. 
"When  one  is  born  anew,  a  fatal  blow  is  given  to  Sa- 
tan's kingdom  in  the  heart ;  for  "  that  which  is  born 
of  the  Spirit  is  spirit."  This  is  a  work  of  amazing 
energy.  It  was  for  good  cause  that  the  Synod  of  Dort 
taught  "that  God,  in  regenerating  a  man,  doth  em- 
ploy that  omnipotent  strength,  whereby  he  may  pow- 
erfully and  infallibly  bow  and  bend  his  will  unto  faith 
and  conversion."  Paul  uses  all  the  strong  words  he  is 
master  of  to  teach  us  that  we  are  renewed  by  power, 
by  amazing  energy.  He  prayed  that  his  Ephesians 
might  know  "  what  is  the  exceeding  greatness  of  his 
power  to  us-ward  who  believe,  according  to  the  work- 
ing of  his  mighty  power,  which  he  wrought  in  Christ 
when  he  raised  him  from  the  dead."  Eph.  i.  18,  19. 
We  know  of  no  greater  power  than  that  which  accom- 
plished the  resurrection  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
Yet  the  same  power  converts  the  soul.  Augustine 
says  :  "  To  justify  a  sinner,  to  new  create  him  from  a 
wicked  person  to  a  righteous  man,  is  a  greater  act, 
than  to  make  such  a  new  heaven  and  earth  as  is  al- 
ready made."  Dr.  Nevins  says,  "  Some  think  it  easy 
to  save  a  soul,  to  bend  a  will,  to  change  a  heart.  But 
it  is  God's  greatest  work.  Creation  is  not  so  hard. 
It  is  the  most  wonderful  species  of  resurrection.  With 
men  it  is  impossible,  with  God  it  is  possible.  In  saving 
a  soul  he  puts  forth  a  mightier  energy  than  in  making 
many  worlds."  In  his  Views  in  Theology  Dr.  Beecher 
admits  that  "  the  power  of  God  in  regeneration  is 
represented  as  among  the  greatest  displays  of  his  om- 
nipotence ever  made,  or  to  be  made  in  the  history  of 
the  universe.     When  the  fair  creation  rose  fresh  in 


268  REGENERATION. 

beauty  from  the  hand  of  God,  the  morning  stars  sang 
together,  and  all  the  sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy ;  but 
sweeter  songs  will  celebrate  and  louder  shouts  will 
attend  the  consummation  of  redemption  by  the  power 
of  God's  Spirit ;  and  such  brighter  glories  of  God,  and 
illustrations  of  his  power  will  be  manifested  to  princi- 
palities and  powers  by  the  Church,  as  will  cause  the 
light  of  his  glory  in  physical  creation  to  go  out  and  be 
forgotten,  as  the  stars  fade  and  are  lost  amid  the  splen- 
dours of  the  sun."  Mr.  Hervey  says,  "Without  the 
powerful  agency  of  the  blessed  Spirit  to  enlighten  our 
understandings,  and  to  apply  the  doctrine  of  the  Bible 
to  our  hearts,  we  shall  be,  even  with  the  word  of  light 
and  life  in  our  hands,  somewhat  like  blind  Bartimeus, 
sitting  amidst  the  heat  of  day ;  or  like  the  withered 
arm,  with  invaluable  treasure  before  it."  Upheld  in 
being  by  God's  power  and  left  to  the  freedom  of  his 
own  will,  man  easily  destroyed  himself;  but  omnipo- 
tence alone  can  save  him.  In  physical,  as  in  spiritual 
things,  destruction  is  easy,  and  restoration  difficult. 
A  child  may  in  an  hour  burn  down  an  edifice,  which  ft 
took  a  hundred  men  a  year  to  erect.  One  stroke  of 
the  sword  may  sunder  from  the  body  a  limb,  which  all 
the  surgeons  on  earth  cannot  restore  to  its  position 
and  its  functions.  A  man  may  easily  take  his  own 
life,  but  no  finite  power  can  restore  it.  The  first 
Adam  though  earthy  could  ruin  all  whom  he  repre- 
sented. But  the  second  Adam  must  needs  be  the 
Lord  from  heaven,  as  his  work  was  to  save  the  lost. 

Thus  the  Church  of  God  has  always  held.  The  Sa- 
voy Confession  well  says,  "Although  the  Gospel  be 
the  only  outward  means  of  revealing  Christ  and  of 
saving  grace,  and  is,  as  such,   abundantly  sufficient 


REGENERATION.  269 

thereunto  ;  yet  that  men,  who  are  dead  in  trespasses, 
may  be  born  again,  quickened,  or  regenerated,  there  is 
moreover  necessary  an  effectual,  irresistible  work  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  upon  the  whole  soul,  for  producing  in 
them  a  new  spiritual  life,  without  which  no  other  means 
are  sufficient  for  their  conversion  unto  God."  Our 
second  birth  is  the  result  of  the  almighty  energy  of 
God's  Holy  Spirit. 

Regeneration  is  no  less  the  fruit  of  matchless  kind- 
ness. So  teach  the  Scriptures.  "  God,  who  is  rich  in 
mercy,  for  his  great  love  wherewith  he  loved  us,  even 
when  we  were  dead  in  sins,  hath  quickened  us  together 
with  Christ."  This  is  the  way  the  Bible  everywhere 
speaks.  It  holds  no  other  language.  Gurnall  well 
observes  that,  "It  is  a  greater  act  of  grace,  for  God 
to  work  conversion  in  a  sinner,  than  to  crown  that  con- 
version with  glory.  It  is  more  gracious  and  conde- 
scending in  a  prince  to  marry  a  poor  damsel,  than 
having  married  her  to  clothe  her  like  a  princess.  He 
was  free  to  do  the  first,  or  not;  but  the  relation  to 
her  pleads  strongly  for  the  other.  God  might  have 
chosen  whether  he  would  have  given  thee  grace,  or  no : 
but,  having  done  this,  thy  relation  to  him,  and  his 
covenant  with  thee  in  his  Son,  do  oblige  him  to  add 
more  and  more,  until  he  hath  fitted  thee  as  a  bride  for 
himself  in  glory." 

This  love  of  Christ  shown  in  regeneration  is  exor- 
cised in  a  sovereign  way.  "  Of  his  own  will  begat  he 
us."  They  who  receive  Christ  Jesus  are  "born,  not 
of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of 
man,  but  of  God."  The  vessels  to  honour  and  those 
to  dishonour  are  made  "of  the  same  lump."  By  na- 
ture there  is  no  difference  between  the  elect  and  the 
23* 


270  REGENERATION. 

non-elect.  Paul  was  as  bloody  a  persecutor  as  Domi- 
tian ;  Zaccheus  as  unconscionable  and  greedy  a  world- 
ling, as  the  rich  man,  who  lifted  up  his  eyes  in  hell ; 
and  the  thief,  who  cried,  Lord,  remember  me,  as  guilty 
and  felonious  as  he,  who  perished,  reviling  the  dying 
Saviour.  Manasseh  was  for  half  a  century  wholly 
corrupt  and  hardened,  covered  with  sins  and  crimes, 
yet  he  was  saved ;  while  the  young  ruler,  who  was  so 
amiable  as  to  draw  forth  the  natural  affections  of 
Christ,  persisted  in  his  covetousness,  and  rejected 
Christ. 

This  new  birth  is  sometimes  called  a  "  translation." 
As  Enoch  and  Elijah  were  taken  out  of  this  world  and 
borne  to  heaven,  so  in  its  renewal,  the  soul  is  "  trans- 
lated out  of  darkness  into  the  kingdom  of  God's  dear 
Son."  "  Outer  darkness"  excepted,  there  is  none 
worse  than  that,  out  of  which  the  soul  is  brought  in 
the  day  of  its  turning  unto  God.  The  kingdom,  into 
which  it  is  translated,  is  righteousness,  peace  and  joy 
in  the  Holy  Ghost.  Sinful  nature  is  thus  slain,  while 
grace  is  enthroned  and  sways  her  peaceful  sceptre  over 
the  will  and  affections.  This  new  birth  we  must  all 
undergo  or  be  for  ever  undone.  "  All  hangs  upon  this 
hinge.  If  this  be  not  done,  ye  are  undone — undone 
eternally.  All  your  profession,  civility,  privileges, 
gifts,  duties  are  cyphers,  and  signify  nothing,  unless 
regeneration  be  the  figure  put  before  them."  This 
great  change  is  a  passing  from  death  unto  life.  Nor 
can  that  transition  ever  be  made  in  any  other  way. 
Better  to  have  been  born  a  heathen,  a  beast  or  a  mon- 
ster, yea,  better  never  to  have  been  born  at  all,  than 
not  to  be  born  again.  I  have  known  many  to  celebrate 
every  year  the  day  of  their  birth ;  but  the  day  of  one's 


REGENERATION.  271 

second  birth  is  far  more  worthy  of  annual  celebration. 
Flavel  says  :  u  What  a  distinguishing  and  seasonable 
mercy  was  ushered  in  by  providence  in  the  day  of 
your  conversion  !  It  brought  you  to  the  means  of  sal- 
vation in  a  good  hour.  At  that  very  point  of  time 
when  the  angel  troubled  the  waters  you  were  brought 
to  the  pool.  John  v.  4.  Now  the  accepted  day  was 
come,  the  Spirit  was  in  the  ordinance  or  providence 
that  converted  you,  and  you  were  set  in  the  way  of  it. 
It  may  be  you  had  heard  many  hundred  sermons  be- 
fore, but  nothing  would  strike  till  now,  because  the 
hour  was  not  come.  *  *  There  were  many  others  un- 
der that  sermon,  that  received  no  such  mercy.  *  *  As 
1  there  were  many  lepers  in  Israel  in  the  days  of  Eli- 
seus  ;  but  to  none  of  them  was  the  prophet  sent,  save 
unto  Naaman  the  Syrian,'  (Luke  iv.  27,)  so  there 
were  many  poor  unconverted  souls  besides  you  under 
the  word  that  day,  and  it  may  be  that  unto  none  of 
them  was  salvation  sent  that  day  but  to  you.  0 
blessed  providence,  that  set  you  in  the  way  of  mercy 
at  that  time  !  *  *  *  For  consider, 

"  1.  Of  all  mercies,  this  comes  through  most  and 
greatest  difficulties.  Eph.  i.  19,  20. 

"  2.  This  is  a  spiritual  mercy,  excelling  in  dignity  of 
nature  all  others  more  than  gold  excels  the  dirt  under 
your  feet.  Rev.  iii.  18.  One  such  gift  is  worth  thou- 
sands of  other  mercies. 

"  3.  This  is  a  mercy  immediately  flowing  out  of  the 
fountain  of  God's  electing  love,  a  mercy  never  dropt 
into  any  but  an  elect  vessel.  1  Thess.  i.  4,  5. 
•  "4.  This  is  a  mercy  that  infallibly  secures  salvation ; 
for  as  we  may  argue  from  conversion  to  election,  look- 
ing back ;  so  from  conversion  to  salvation  looking  for- 
ward. Heb.  vi.  9. 


272  REGENERATION. 

«  "  5.  Lastly.  This  is  an  eternal  mercy,  that  which  will 
stick  by  you  when  father,  mother,  wife,  children,  estate, 
honour,  health,  and  life  shall  fail  thee.  John  iv.  14." 
In  due  time  the  regenerate  experience  their  third 
birth,  which  is  into  glory,  but  of  this  more  hereafter. 
The  first  of  these  births  is  natural,  the  second  and  third 
are  supernatural ;  the  first  is  carnal,  the  others  arc 
spiritual ;  the  first  inclines  to  sin  ("  they  go  astray 
so  soon  as  they  are  born");  the  second  inclines 
to  holiness  ("he  that  is  born  of  God  sinneth  not"); 
the  third  for  ever  perfects  both  holiness  and  happiness ; 
("  we  shall  be  like  him,  for  we  shall  see  him  as  he  is"). 
Each  of  these  births  proves  that  God  is  almighty,  wise 
and  good.  Yet  the  manner  of  their  occurrence  is  not 
very  clear  to  us.  The  transition  from  nothing  to  some- 
thing, from  death  to  life,  from  earth  to  heaven  will 
perhaps  ever  be  somewhat  obscure.  "  Thou  knowest 
not  the  way  of  the  Spirit,  nor  how  the  bones  do  grow 
in  the  womb  of  her  that  is  with  child."  "  The  wind 
bloweth  where  it  listeth,  and  thou  hearest  the  sound 
thereof,  but  canst  not  tell  whence  it  cometh,  nor 
whither  it  goeth ;  so  is  every  one  that  is  born  of  the 
Spirit."  Each  of  these  births  has  its  sorrows.  We 
come  into  the  world  with  a  cry.  We  forsake  sin  and 
turn  to  God,  mourning  as  for  a  first-born  son,  or  as  the 
people  wept  at  Hadadrimmon  in  the  valley  of  Megid- 
don,  when  their  good  king,  Josiah,  was  slain.  We 
leave  this  world  with  a  groan.  Yet  of  the  righteous 
it  is  always  true  that  "  the  day  of  one's  death  is  better 
than  the  day  of  one's  birth."  We  cannot  be  too 
grateful  for  either  of  these  births ;  but  the  pious  heart 
loves  to  dwell  on  the  first  as  the  beginning  of  natural 
life,  on  the  second  as  the  beginning  of  spiritual  life, 


REGENERATION.  273 

and  on  the  third  as  the  beginning  of  everlasting  life. 
Neither  of  these  births  is  the  cause  of  the  other,  but 
God  is  the  author  of  them  all.  To  him  belongs  all 
the  glory  of  our  being,  of  our  well-being,  of  our  un- 
fading bliss.  In  our  spiritual  regeneration  the  grace 
of  God,  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  is  very 
illustrious.  Kedemption  devised  by  God,  and  pur- 
chased by  Christ,  is  in  the  new  birth  applied  by  the 
Spirit. 

One  of  the  most  admirable  effects  of  divine  grace 
in  regeneration  is  the  victory  gained  over  the  strongest 
evil  inclinations.  Many  a  time  the  bitterest  foes  have 
by  the  power  of  the  new  birth  become  the  warmest 
friends  of  truth  and  righteousness.  As  David  dis- 
played his  prowess  by  slaying  Goliath,  so  the  grace  of 
God  gains  the  victory  over  champion  sins.  The  jailor 
at  Philippi  practised  gratuitous  cruelty  towards  his 
prisoners,  but  as  soon  as  his  heart  was  changed, 
he  washed  their  stripes.  In  particular  does  the  new 
birth  bring  a  sinner  out  of  himself,  and  lead  him  to 
exalt  the  Saviour,  and  glorify  God  with  all  his  powers. 
So  that  the  soul  rests  in  God,  is  satisfied  with  him 
as  its  chief  good,  and  glories  even  in  shame  and  re- 
proach for  the  advancement  of  his  cause. 

"  Blessed  be  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  which,  according  to  his  abundant  mercy,  hath 
begotten  us  again  unto  a  lively  hope  by  the  resurrec- 
tion of  Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead,  to  an  inheritance 
incorruptible,  undefiled,  and  that  fadeth  not  away, 
reserved  in  heaven  for  you." 


CHAPTER    XXXI. 


SANCTIFICATION. 

It  is  by  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  that  the 
work  of  purifying  our  natures  is  carried  on  to  comple- 
tion. "  Without  holiness  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord." 
Only  "  the  pure  in  heart  shall  see  God."  Holiness  in 
man  is  conformity  to  God.  The  beginning  of  it  is  in 
regeneration.  The  measure  of  it  is  the  law  of  God. 
The  author  of  it  is  the  Spirit  of  God.  The  source  of 
it  is  the  mediation  of  Christ.  The  necessity  of  it  is 
laid  in  God's  spotless  holiness  and  in  man's  wicked 
enmity  and  utter  helplessness.  The  end  of  it  is  eter- 
nal life. 

"  Be  ye  holy,  for  I  am  holy"  never  proceeded  from 
a  false  God.  Indeed  the  heathen  never  used  a  word, 
which  to  their  minds  signified  what  we  mean  by  sanc- 
tification.  Their  holiness  was  outward,  official,  ceremo- 
nial. Gospel  holiness  is  inward,  personal,  spiritual — 
of  the  heart.  It  is  true  of  all  men  that  "  out  of  the 
heart  are  the  issues  of  life."  As  is  the  heart  so  is  the 
word,  or  the  deed.  As  is  the  motive  so  is  the  man. 
Men  cannot  bring  themselves  to  be  thankful  for  an  act, 
however  advantageous  to  them,  if  they  know  it  was  not 
so  designed.  But  they  often  feel  grateful  for  kind  in- 
tentions, which  resulted  in  no  good  to  them.  God  and 
good  men  often  take  the  will  for  the  deed ;  but  God 
never  takes  the  deed  for  the  will,  and  man  never  does 
it  but  through  ignorance.  Jehovah  makes  one  demand 
(274) 


SANCTIFICATION.  275 

on  old  and  young,  prince  and  peasant,  saint  and  sinner, 
and  that  is  for  holiness  of  heart.  Nor  will  he  relax 
this  demand  to  save  a  soul  from  hell.  To  abate  aught 
of  his  requirements  would  be  to  deny  himself.  He 
always  has  said  and  ever  must  say,  "  My  son,  give 
me  thy  heart."  So  reasonable  a  command  ought 
promptly  to  be  obeyed. 

The  Westminster  Assembly  give  this  definition : 
"  Sanctification  is  a  work  of  God's  grace,  whereby 
they,  whom  God  hath,  before  the  foundation  of  the 
world,  chosen  to  be  holy,  are,  in  time,  through  the 
powerful  operation  of  his  Spirit,  applying  the  death 
and  resurrection  of  Christ  unto  them,  renewed  in  the 
whole  man  after  the  image  of  God ;  having  the  seeds 
of  repentance  unto  life,  and  all  other  saving  graces, 
put  into  their  hearts,  and  those  graces  so  stirred  up, 
increased  and  strengthened,  as  that  they  more  and 
more  die  unto  sin,  and  rise  unto  newness  of  life." 
The  great  difference  between  the  two  houses  which 
Solomon  built  was,  that  he  himself  dwelt  in  one,  and 
God  in  the  other.  The  great  difference  between  a 
saint  and  a  sinner  is,  that  God  inhabits  the  former,  and 
Satan  the  latter.  To  Christians  Paul  says :  "  Ye  are 
the  temple  of  the  living  God ;  as  God  hath  said,  I  will 
dwell  in  them  and  walk  in  them,  and  I  will  be  their 
God,  and  they  shall  be  my  people."  Again,  "  His 
Spirit  dwelleth  in  you."  It  is  indeed  wonderful  that 
the  tabernacle  of  God  should  be  "  with  men,"  but  it 
is  still  more  marvellous  that  it  should  be  in  men.  0 
the  condescending  greatness  of  Jehovah !  The  Holy 
Ghost  is  greatly  honoured  in  all  the  Scriptures.  There 
he  is  called  the  Spirit  of  God,  the  Spirit  of  Jehovah, 
the  Spirit  of  Christ,  the  Spirit  of  adoption,  the  Spirit 


27G  SANCTIFICATION. 

of  wisdom,  the  Spirit  of  understanding,  the  Spirit  of 
counsel,  the  Spirit  of  might,  the  Spirit  of  knowledge, 
the  Spirit  of  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  the  Spirit  of  grace, 
the  Spirit  of  supplication,  the  Spirit  of  glory,  the  Spirit 
of  judgment,  the  Spirit  of  promise,  the  Spirit  of  pro- 
phecy, the  Spirit  of  truth,  the  Spirit  of  holiness,  the 
Holy  Spirit,  the  Comforter.  He  purifies  the  heart. 
He  stirs  us  up  to  fervent  prayer.  He  makes  us  to 
hunger  and  thirst  after  the  knowledge  and  image  of 
God.  He  abides  with  the  Church  for  ever.  He, 
whose  heart  is  thus  inhabited,  shall  indeed  be  prepared 
"unto  glory."  The  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is 
necessary  to  help  us  on  continually.  An  occasional 
impulse  is  not  enough.  "  The  ship  in  full  sail  keeps 
on  her  way  for  a  short  distance  after  her  canvass  is 
taken  in ;  but  if  the  propelling  power  is  not  renewed, 
she  moves  slowly,  then  stops,  and  then  is  drifted  back- 
ward by  the  tide."  The  soul  needs  help  from  above 
all  the  day  long.  And  how  delightful  it  is  to  find  in- 
spired men  teaching  this  doctrine,  not  in  a  cold  logic, 
nor  in  angry  disputations,  but  with  raptures  of  delight. 
Hear  Paul ;  "  We  are  bound  to  give  thanks  always  to 
God  for  you,  brethren,  beloved  of  the  Lord,  because 
God  hath  from  the  beginning  chosen  you  to  salvation, 
through  sanctification  of  the  Spirit  and  belief  of  the 
truth."  And  Peter  addresses  the  people  of  God  as 
"  elect  according  to  the  foreknowledge  of  God  the 
Father,  through  sanctification  of  the  Spirit,  unto  obe- 
dience and  sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  Jesus."  So  that 
our  fellowship  is  with  the  Father  and  the  Son  by  the 
Spirit.  "  It  is  not  the  sages,  but  the  saints  that  are 
the  excellent  of  the  earth."  They  are  "called  with  a 
holy  calling."      The  Holy  Ghost  thoroughly  cleanses 


SANCTIFICATION.  277 

their  natures.  The  Confession  of  Scotland  thus  sums 
up  the  leading  truths  respecting  the  Spirit  of  God : 
u  Faith,  and  the  assurance  of  the  same,  proceed  not 
from  flesh  and  blood ;  that  is  to  say,  from  no  natural 
powers  within  us ;  but  is  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  Matt.  xvi.  17 ;  John  xiv.  26  ;  xv.  26  ;  and  xvi. 
13  ;  whom  we  confess,  equal  with  the  Father  and  with 
the  Son  ;  Acts  v.  3,  4,  who  sanctifieth  us,  and  bringeth 
us  into  all  verity  by  his  own  operation ;  without  whom 
we  should  remain  for  ever  enemies  to  God,  and  igno- 
rant of  his  Son  Christ  Jesus.  For  of  nature  we  are 
so  dead,  so  blind,  and  so  perverse,  that  neither  can  we 
feel  when  we  are  pricked,  see  the  light  when  it  shineth, 
nor  assent  to  the  will  of  God  when  it  is  revealed,  un- 
less the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  quicken  that  which  is  dead, 
remove  the  darkness  from  our  minds,  and  bow  our  stub- 
born hearts  to  the  obedience  of  his  blessed  will.  And 
so,  as  we  confess  that  God  the  Father  created  us,  when 
we  were  not,  Psa.  c.  3  ;  as  his  Son  our  Lord  Jesus  re- 
deemed us,  when  we  were  enemies  to  him,  Rom.  v.  10  ; 
so  also  do  we  confess,  that  the  Holy  Ghost  doth  sanc- 
tify and  regenerate  us,  without  all  respect  of  any 
merit,  proceeding  from  us,  be  it  before,  or  be  it  after 
our  regeneration.  Rom.  v.  8.  To  speak  this  one  thing 
yet  in  more  plain  words :  as  we  willingly  spoil 
[strip]  ourselves  of  all  honour  and  glory  of  our  own 
creation  and  redemption,  so  do  we  also  of  our  regene- 
ration and  sanctification ;  for  of  ourselves  we  are  not 
sufficient  to  think  one  good  thought ;  2  Cor.  iii.  5 ;  but 
he,  who  hath  begun  the  work  in  us,  is  only  he  that 
continueth  in  us  the  same,  (Phil.  i.  6,)  to  the  praise  and 
glory  of  his  undeserved  grace."  Eph.  i.  6. 

The  question  is  sometimes  asked,  What  is  the  differ- 
24 


278  SANCTIFICATION. 

ence  between  regeneration  and  sanctification  ?  The 
answer  is  that  they  are  not  different  in  their  author, 
who  is  the  Holy  Spirit ;  nor  in  the  means  used,  which 
is  God's  truth ;  nor  in  the  fruit  produced,  which  is 
conformity  to  God.  They  differ  only  as  the  comple- 
tion of  a  work  differs  from  its  commencement.  Re- 
generation is  the  beginning  of  sanctification.  Sancti- 
fication is  the  carrying  out  of  regeneration  to  its  end. 
Regeneration  is  an  act  of  God's  Spirit.  Sanctification 
is  a  work  of  God's  Spirit,  consequent  upon  that  act. 
Regeneration  is  the  tender  blade.  Sanctification  is  its 
growth  until  it  is  the  full-ripe  corn.  In  regeneration 
we  become  "new-born  babes;"  in  sanctification  we  at- 
tain the  stature  of  full-grown  men  in  Christ  Jesus. 
Although  sanctification  is  not  perfected  in  this  life, 
yet  it  is  finished  at  the  death  of  all  the  saints. 

Another  question  of  great  importance  is,  What  is 
the  difference  between  justification  and  sanctification  ? 
The  answer  is  that  they  do  not  differ  in  their  import- 
ance. Both  are  essential  to  salvation.  Without  either 
we  must  perish.  Indeed  God  has  inseparably  joined 
them  together.  Christ  Jesus  is  always  made  sanctifi- 
cation to  those,  to  whom  he  is  made  righteousness. 
Nor  do  they  differ  in  their  source,  which  is  the  free 
grace  and  infinite  love  of  God.  Nor  do  they  differ 
because  one  of  them  is  accomplished  by  faith  and  the 
other  without  it.  For  it  is  often  said  that  we  are  justified 
by  faith,  and  it  is  as  distinctly  said  that  our  hearts  are 
purified  by  faith.  Faith  is  the  instrument  of  justifica- 
tion. It  is  the  root  of  sanctification.  In  justification 
sin  is  pardoned,  in  sanctification  it  is  slain.  In  the 
former  we  obtain  forgiveness  and  acceptance ;  in  the 
latter  we  attain  the  victory  over  corruption,  and  obtain 


SANCTIFICATION.  279 

rectitude  of  nature.     Justification  is  an  act  of  God 
complete   at  once  and   for  ever.     Sanctification   is   a 
work  of  God  begun  in  regeneration,  conducted  through 
life  and  completed  at  death.     The  former  is  equal  and 
perfect  in  all ;  the  latter  is  not  equal  in  all,  nor  per- 
fect in  any  till  they  lay  aside  the  flesh.     In  justification 
God   imputes  to  us  the  righteousness  of  Christ;  in 
sanctification  he  infuses  grace,  and  enables  us  to  exer- 
cise it.      Justification  always  precedes  sanctification. 
Sanctification  always  comes  after  justification.     A  late 
writer  says,  "Justification  and  sanctification  differ,  1st. 
in  their  causes.     Justification  comes  by  the  righteous- 
ness of  Christ;  sanctification  by  the  agency  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.     2d.  In  their  effects.     The  effect  of  justifica- 
tion consists  in  our  external  restoration  to  the  favour 
of  God,  and  the  bestowment  on  us  of  a  covenant  title 
to  eternal  life ;  that  of  sanctification,  in  the  removal 
of    our   inbred   corruption,  and   the  renewal  of  the 
divine  image  in  the  soul.     3d.  In  their  locality.     Jus- 
tification is  an  act  of  God,  done  amid  the  solemnities 
of  his  court  in  Heaven  ;  sanctification  is  a  work  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  wrought  on  the  dispositions  of  our  inner 
man  on  earth.     4th.  In  time  and  degree.     Justification 
lies  at  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  life,  and,  except 
in  its  consequences,  does  not  extend  beyond  it,  but  is 
instantaneous  and  complete  upon  our  first  exercise  of 
cordial  faith.     Sanctification  begins  where  justification 
ends,  runs  throughout  the  Christian  life,  and  is  partial 
and  progressive,   from  measure  to   measure,   until  it 
reaches  its  perfection  in  glory.      In  short,  justification 
is  God's  act  for  us,  through  the  righteousness  of  his 
Son ;  sanctification  is  his  work  in  us,   by  the  power 
of  his  Spirit.     The  former  is  our  title  to  Heaven ;  the 


280  SANCTIFICATION. 

latter  is  our  education  for  Heaven.  In  the  one  God 
acts  alone;  in  the  other  he  brings  us  to  co-operate 
with  liim.  To  thrust  ourselves  into  the  former  would 
rob  God  of  his  glory ;  to  keep  ourselves  out  of  the 
latter  would  perpetuate  our  incapacity  for  bliss."  So 
long  as  churches  preserve  this  distinction  clear  and  en- 
tire, its  influence  for  good  will  be  manifest.  In  some 
respects  men  may  widely  differ  on  doctrinal  points,  but 
if  right  here,  you  will  find  them  rallying  around  the 
vital  truths  of  Christianity  in  a  manner  very  pleasing. 
Mr.  Wesley  says  that  sanctification  "is,  indeed,  the 
immediate  fruit  of  justification ;  but,  nevertheless,  is  a 
distinct  gift  of  God,  and  of  a  totally  different  nature. 
The  one  implies  what  God  does  for  us  through  his 
Son ;  the  other,  what  God  works  in  us  by  his  Spirit. 
So  that,  although  some  rare  instances  may  be  found, 
wherein  the  terms  justified  and  justification  are  used 
in  so  wide  a  sense  as  to  include  sanctification  also,  yet 
in  general  use  they  are  sufficiently  distinguished  from 
each  other,  both  by  Paul  and  the  other  inspired 
writers."  Other  writers  have  also  supposed  that  jus- 
tification is  sometimes  used  in  Scripture  to  include 
sanctification.  If  so  it  is  only  by  synecdoche.  Nor  is 
justification  ever  specially  referred  to  the  Holy  Spirit 
as  its  author,  but  sanctification  of  the  soul  is  often  said 
to  be  through  the  Spirit.  Nor  does  that  saying  of 
Paul  (1  Cor.  vi.  11)  when  rightly  interpreted  contra- 
vene this  statement.  His  words  are  :  "  And  such 
were  some  of  you;  but  ye  are  washed,  but  ye  are 
sanctified,  but  ye  are  justified  in  the  name  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  and  by  the  Spirit  of  our  God."  The  peculi- 
arity of  this  and  some  other  texts  is  that  the  first  and 
last  clauses  of  the  sentence  belong  to  each  other,  while 


SANCTIFICATION.  281 

the  second   and  third  belong  to  each  other.      Thus 
the  real  meaning  is  "  ye  are  washed,  ye  are  sanctified 
by  the  Spirit  of  our  God,  and  ye  are  justified  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord  Jesus."    We  have  a  text  of  the  same 
construction  in  the  sermon  on  the  mount :   "  Give  not 
that  which  is  holy  unto  the  dogs,  neither  cast  ye  your 
pearls  before  swine,  lest  they  trample  them  under  their 
feet,  and  turn  again  and  rend  you."    Matt.  vii.  6.    All 
critics  know  that  the  rending  here  spoken  of  is  as- 
cribed to  the  dogs  and  the  trampling  to  the  swine,  as 
if  it  read,  "  Give  not  that,  which  is  holy  unto  the  dogs 
lest   they  turn  again  and  rend  you,  nor  cast  ye  your 
pearls  before  swine  lest  they  trample  them  under  their 
feet."    This  form  of  construction  it  is  well  known  can 
be  found  in  the  classics  of  all   ancient  nations.     So 
that  Paul  does  not  confound  justification  and  sanctifi- 
cation,  nor  put  one  for  the  other,  as  some  have  erro- 
neously supposed,  yet  it  is  a  blessed  truth  that  these 
gifts  of  God  are  never  separated.     Whoever  has  one 
has  both.     The  prophet  David  in  Psa.  xxxii.  1,  2,  and 
the    apostle  Paul   in  Rom.  viii.  1,  have  both  clearly 
taught  us  that  the  pardoned  are  without  guile,  and 
that   the  justified  walk  after   the   Spirit.       He  who 
would  separate  things  which  God  has  thus  joined  to- 
gether, does  wickedly ;    while  to  distinguish  between 
them  is  an  important  duty  and  of  great  influence  for 
good. 

24* 


CHAPTER    XXXII. 


SANCTIFICATION,    CONTINUED. 

There  is  a  great  mystery  in  sanctification.  It  is  a 
mystery  for  the  love  it  displays,  for  the  power  it  mani- 
fests, for  the  method  it  employs,  and  for  the  work  it 
accomplishes.  "  We  all  with  open  face  beholding  as 
in  a  glass  the  glory  of  the  Lord  are  changed  into  the 
same  image  from  glory  to  glory,  even  as  by  the  Spirit  of 
the  Lord."  When  Moses  looked  upon  that  bright  efful- 
gence in  the  mount,  he  gradually  caught  some  of  the 
same  glory,  so  that  his  face  shone.  When  we  behold 
the  image  of  the  invisible  God,  as  it  is  presented  in 
the  person  and  character  of  Christ,  we  too  are  made 
like  it,  not  indeed  by  a  mere  natural  effect,  but  "  by 
the  Spirit  of  the  Lord.''  ,  Likeness  to  God  alone  is 
holiness.  Growth  in  this  likeness  is  growth  in  grace. 
It  is  all  by  Jesus  Christ. 

It  is  true  that  "  the  best  of  men  are  men  at  the 
best,"  and  so  are  far  from  being  perfect  as  their  Father 
in  heaven  is  perfect.  "  There  is  no  man  that  sinneth 
not."  Yea,  "  there  is  not  a  just  man  upon  earth,  that 
doeth  good,  and  sinneth  not."  But  the  righteous  man 
is  not  a  willing  captive  of  sin,  whereas  the  unrenewed 
man  rejoiceth  in  iniquity.  The  child  of  God  is  be- 
coming more  and  more  like  God.  The  wicked  wax 
worse  and  worse.  The  saint  longs  for  God's  salvation. 
The  sinner  sleeps  not  except  he  has  done  some  mischief. 
(282) 


SANCTIFICATION.  283 

The  heart  of  a  believer  is  the  best  part  about  him.  If 
he  could  have  things  as  he  would,  he  never  would  sin 
any  more.  The  life  of  an  unconverted  man  is  com- 
monly not  near  so  bad  as  his  heart.  He  is  restrained 
in  many  ways  from  acting  out  the  worst  that  is  in  him. 
The  holy  man  blushes  at  a  sinful  thought.  The  wicked 
man  loves  to  have  vain  thoughts  lodge  within  him.  It 
is  the  business  of  a  good  man's  life  to  please  God  and 
perfect  holiness.  It  is  the  business  of  a  sinner's  life 
to  please  himself  and  commit  sin.  The  work  of  puri- 
fying the  heart  shall  be  finished  in  due  time,  and  all 
the  righteous  shall  be  satisfied,  when  they  awake,  with 
the  likeness  of  God,  fully  drawn  upon  their  souls. 

If  we  are  called  to  be  saints,  we  are  not  called  to 
serve  any  but  the  Lord  Christ.  Holiness  may  be  out 
of  fashion  here,  but  not  in  heaven.  It  is  infinitely 
better  to  be  "a  peculiar  people,  zealous  of  good  works," 
than  "  a  people,  laden  with  iniquity."  When  a  prince 
was  about  to  travel,  he  asked  his  tutor  for  some  maxims, 
by  which  to  govern  his  behaviour,  and  received  this  : 
"  Remember  that  thou  art  the  son  of  a  king."  Let  all 
Christians  remember  that  they  are  the  sons  and  daugh- 
ters of  the  Lord  Almighty,"  and  "  if  sons,  then  heirs, 
heirs  of  God,  and  joint  heirs  with  Jesus  Christ."  With 
what  force  and  point  the  exhortation  comes  to  such, 
"  Be  ye  not  conformed  to  this  world,  but  be  ye  trans- 
formed by  the  renewing  of  your  mind."  Children  of 
the  Highest,  never  forget  that  "  ye  cannot  serve  two 
masters."  "Walk  not  after  the  flesh  but  after  the 
Spirit."  "  They  that  walk  after  the  Spirit  do  mind 
the  things  of  the  Spirit."  If  you  entertain  any  view 
of  gospel  grace,  which  encourages  you  to  lead  a  sinful 
or  even  a  careless  life,  you  have  grossly  perverted  the 


284  SANCTIFICATION. 

gospel.  Truth  never  generates  licentiousness.  Actual 
participation  in  Christ's  righteousness  is  always  mani- 
fested by  the  possession  of  his  image  and  temper. 

It  is  sad  proof  of  a  wicked  heart  when  a  professor 
of  Christ's  gospel  attempts  to  live  as  near  as  possible 
to  the  line  separating  sin  from  holiness.  Let  him 
eschew  and  abhor  evil.  Excess  in  many  things  is  easy, 
but  no  man  fears  or  hates  sin  too  much.  So  far  as  we 
know,  it  is  the  only  thing  which  God  hates.  There  are 
many  filthy  reptiles,  unclean  beasts  and  venomous  ser- 
pents from  which  we  instinctively  turn  away ;  yet  God's 
tender  mercies  are  over  all  of  these.  He  opens  his 
hand  and  supplies  the  wants  of  every  living  thing.  To 
the  end  which  he  proposed  in  their  creation,  they  are 
well  adapted.  But  sin  is  in  its  own  nature  and  ten- 
dency only  evil.  God  abhors  it.  It  dishonours  him, 
it  grieves  him,  it  vexes  him.  It  is  the  only  thing  which 
does  dishonour  or  offend  him.  He  is  angry  with  the 
wicked  every  day.  When  one  of  Christ's  people  sins, 
it  is  wounding  our  Saviour  "  in  the  house  of  his 
friends." 

An  alleged  work  of  grace  on  the  heart,  which  gives 
no  outward  signs  and  leaves  the  life  wicked,  is  good 
for  nothing.  True  holiness  is  not  dormant  but  active, 
not  merely  a  negation  of  evil,  but  the  positiveness  of 
good.  For  a  while  Joseph  and  Nicodemus  may  be 
timid,  but  when  the  great  question  is  raised  by  the  cru- 
cifixion, we  find  them  open  and  bold  disciples.  The 
fruit  of  a  holy  nature  is  a  holy  life.  Justin  Martyr 
said  :  "  God  will  admit  none  into  his  presence  but  such 
as  can  persuade  him  by  their  good  works  that  they 
love  him."  If  "  God's  husbandry"  brings  forth  the 
same  fruits  and  flowers  and  plants  as  grow  in  the  wild 


SANCTIFICATION.  285 

mountains  of  error,  how  is  it  better  than  they  ?  Surely 
"  love,  joy,  peace,  long-suffering,  gentleness,  goodness, 
faith,  meekness,  temperance,"  are  very  different  and 
very  distinguishable  from  the  works  of  the  flesh.  In 
some  measure  these  graces  belong  to  all,  who  are  born 
from  above,  and  grow  with  the  increase  of  holiness  in 
their  hearts.  Nor  is  there  on  earth  a  more  interesting 
sight  than  a  child  of  God  warring  with  the  flesh,  re- 
sisting the  devil,  overcoming  the  world,  working  the 
works  of  God,  fighting  the  good  fight,  and  laying  hold 
on  eternal  life.  Such  "  shall  do  exploits,"  and  at  last 
sit  down  with  Christ  on  his  throne,  as  he  also  over- 
came, and  is  set  down  with  his  Father  on  his  throne. 

The  great  test  of  personal  piety  is  personal  holiness. 
It  is  better  to  have  the  evidence  of  a  meek,  forgiving 
temper,  of  a  serious,  devout  spirit,  of  a  tender,  grate- 
ful heart,  of  a  chaste,  pious  conversation,  of  a  con- 
sistent, holy  life,  in  favour  of  our  acceptance  with  God, 
than  it  would  be  to  have  an  angel  bring  down  from 
heaven  the  book  of  life,  and  show  us  our  names  written 
therein.  This  might  astound,  it  might  for  a  while  de- 
light us ;  but  then  we  should  probably  soon  become 
presumptuous,  or  fall  into  doubts,  under  the  impression 
that  we  had  been  deluded.  But  a  life  of  holiness  is 
not  only  in  the  general  reliable,  it  is  in  fact  infallible 
evidence  that  we  are  God's  people.  Nothing  can  set 
it  aside.  Human  character  is  like  a  web  of  cloth  made 
up  of  a  great  number  of  small  threads,  any  one  of 
which  is  not  very  important  or  conspicuous,  but  all 
together  make  up  the  piece.  He  who  thinks  a  fine 
selvedge  at  the  last  end  will  make  his  cloth  salable  or 
valuable  will  be  deceived.  "  Patient  continuance  in 
well-doing"   constitutes  the  true  test  of  excellence. 


286  SANCTIFICATION. 

Fublic  and  great  occasions  may  furnish,  opportunities 
for  wonderful  displays  of  what  men  can  sometimes  do ; 
but  they  will  commonly  amount  to  little  more  than  sad 
failures,  unless  the  grace  of  God  has  been  sufficient  to 
enable  a  man  to  behave  wisely  in  little  things. 

When  the  world  comes  in  with  violence,  will  it  not 
spoil  all  our  pleasant  things,  unless  there  be  one  stronger 
still  ?  Who  can  look  without  trembling  at  a  feeble 
creature,  unguarded,  unrestrained,  unsupported  by  the 
grace  of  God,  as  the  world  makes  its  successive  attacks 
upon  him  ?  In  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  where  the  tide  rises 
to  the  height  of  from  forty  to  sixty  feet,  and  comes  in 
with  a  tremendous  roar,  due  warning  is  given.  Yet 
with  every  precaution  many  vessels  are  lost.  But  when 
a  tide  of  worldliness  rolls  in  on  the  soul,  its  greatest 
swells  are  commonly  noiseless,  give  no  alarm,  and  seem 
to  threaten  nothing.  Divine  grace,  not  human  power, 
must  give  us  the  victory  over  the  world.  Sometimes 
our  inbred  corruptions  seem  to  defy  all  our  vigilance 
and  power.  Our  foes  within  us  are  lively,  many  and 
subtle.  Then  there  are  principalities  and  powers,  and 
spiritual  wickednesses  in  high  places.  These  are  the 
terror  and  the  torment  of  the  saints  in  every  age. 
Who  shall  withstand  them  ?  Who  shall  cause  us  to 
triumph  over  them  ?  None  but  God.  He  is  mighty. 
He  can  make  us  conquerors  and  more  than  conquerors. 
In  the  words,  "My  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee,"  is 
found  the  last  hope  of  sinking  human  nature.  Our 
Rock  is  Christ.  There  never  was  any  other.  Nothing 
is  too  hard  for  him.  Which  side  he  is  on  is  sure  to 
conquer.  By  him  holy  men  of  old  "  subdued  kingdoms, 
wrought  righteousness,  obtained  promises,  stopped  the 
mouths  of  lions,  quenched  the  violence  of  fire,  escaped 


SANCTIFICATION.  287 

the  edge  of  the  sword,  out  of  weakness  were  made 
strong,  waxed  valiant  in  fight,  turned  to  flight  the 
armies  of  the  aliens,"  &c.  What  has  not  divine  grace 
done?  No  deeds  of  fortitude  or  of  heroism  can  com- 
pare with  the  achievements  of  the  saints.  Divine  grace 
makes  the  feeble  like  David,  and  the  house  of  David 
like  the  angel  of  God.  It  is  stronger  than  passion, 
than  the  flesh,  than  the  world,  than  fallen  angels,  than 
death  and  hell.  Marvellous  is  the  grace  of  God  in  all 
its  displays  and  in  all  its  effects.  "  Though  ye  have 
lien  among  the  pots,  yet  shall  ye  be  as  the  wings  of  a 
dove  covered  with  silver,  and  her  feathers  with  yellow 
gold."  0  that  all,  who  name  the  name  of  Christ,  knew 
what  this  meaneth :  "  The  Spirit  is  life  because  of 
righteousness." 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 


RELATIVE  DUTIES. 

« 

A  PIOUS  minister,  in  preaching  to  his  people  imme- 
diately preceding  a  communion  season,  invariably 
spoke  of  the  performance  of  relative  duties  as  a  neces- 
sary proof  of  the  sincerity  of  a  religious  profession. 
He  was  right.  Bad  parents,  bad  children,  bad  hus- 
bands, bad  wives,  bad  masters,  bad  servants,  bad  rulers, 
bad  subjects  cannot  be  good  Christians.  On  all  these 
points  the  Scriptures  speak  explicitly :  "  Parents,  bring 
up  your  children  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of 
the  Lord,  not  provoking  them  to  anger  lest  they  be  dis- 
couraged ;"  "  Children,  obey  your  parents  in  the  Lord ;" 
"  Husbands,  love  your  wives,  and  be  not  bitter  against 
them;"  "Wives,  obey  your  husbands;"  "And  ye 
masters,  do  the  things  that  are  just  and  equal ;" 
"  Servants,  be  obedient  to  them  that  are  your  masters 
according  to  the  flesh,  with  fear  and  trembling  ;"  "  Let 
every  soul  be  subject  unto  the  higher  powers  ;"  "  Ren- 
der to  all  their  dues;"  these  are  but  specimens  of  the 
stringent  and  clear  teachings  of  God's  word.  Particu- 
larly has  God  put  high  honour  upon  the  family  rela- 
tion and  guarded  it  at  every  point.  It  was  formed  in 
paradise,  and  has  been  continued  ever  since  with  many 
divine  sanctions.  The  proper  duties  of  it  are  pointed 
out  in  the  ten  commandments.  Jesus  Christ  person- 
ally set  an  example  of  domestic  subordination  in  his 
(288) 


RELATIVE    DUTIES,  289 

childhood  and  youth,  and  of  filial  piety  "when  he  was 
dying.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  in  the  most  tho- 
roughly doctrinal  epistles  of  the  New  Testament,  the 
apostles  find  room  for  pressing  these  duties.  Nor  is 
there  a  more  striking  difference  between  heathenism 
and  Christianity,  or  between  the  pure  and  the  corrupt 
forms  of  Christianity,  than  in  their  respective  influence 
on  families  and  on  social  life  in  general. 

The  reasons  urged  in  God's  word  for  the  careful 
performance  of  relative  duties  are  many,  and  striking. 
They  are  such  as  these :  "  For  that  is  right;"  "  That 
he,  who  is  of  the  contrary  part,  may  be  ashamed,  hav- 
ing no  evil  thing  to  say  of  you ;"  "  That  ye  may  put 
to  silence  the  ignorance  of  foolish  men ;"  "  That  if 
any  obey  not  the  word,  they  may  be  won  by  the  con- 
versation of  the  wives,  while  they  behold  your  chaste 
conversation,  coupled  with  fear  ;"  "  That  the  name  of 
God  and  his  doctrine  be  not  blasphemed  ;"  "  That  they 
may  adorn  the  doctrine  of  God  our  Saviour  in  all 
things;"  "If  any  provide  not  for  his  own,  and  spe- 
cially for  those  of  his  own  house,  he  hath  denied  the 
faith  and  is  worse  than  an  infidel."  Such  reasonings 
cannot  be  answered,  though  their  force  may  be  evaded. 
No  good  man  will  try  to  diminish  their  power  over 
him. 

The  virulence  and  malignity  of  communism  are  seen 
in  nothing  more  plainly  than  in  its  various  and  violent 
assaults  on  the  family  institution.  The  folly  of  the 
high  priests  of  this  dreadful  form  of  wickedness  has 
commonly  been  made  very  manifest.  The  wild  confu- 
sion, which  has  reigned  over  their  practical  endeavours, 
has  in  most  cases  resulted  in  speedy  disorganization. 
Order  supposes  subordination ;  and  without  this  all  at- 
25 


290  RELATIVE   DUTIES. 

tempts  to  improve  men  or  manners  are  idle.  When 
one  sees  the  waves  dashing  against  the  rock  of  Gib- 
raltar, he  fears  not  that  it  will  be  carried  away.  So 
when  men  foam  out  their  own  shame  and  fury  against 
institutions,  which  find  their  necessity  in  human  nature, 
their  sanction  in  God's  revealed  will,  and  their  founda- 
tion in  his  unvarying  ordinances,  the  result  is  not 
doubtful.  When  a  spirit,  leading  men  to  canvass  all 
opinions  and  to  unsettle  everything,  first  appears  in 
each  generation,  the  timid  cry  out:  ""What  are  we 
coming  to?"  The  ignorant  gaze  and  gape  as  though 
they  were  about  to  see  wonders ;  the  rash  raise  a  shout 
and  cry,  "Here  is  wisdom  ;"  but  the  wise  calmly  set 
themselves  to  look  at  the  foundations  of  things,  and 
soon  perceive  the  rock  of  truth,  after  which  they  are 
no  more  afraid  with  any  amazement.  "  Those  who  at- 
tempt to  level  never  equalize."  They  destroy,  but 
they  build  not. 

Domestic  virtue  requires  the  elements  of  truth,  jus- 
tice, uniformity,  condescension,  candour,  gentleness 
and  kindness  from  superiors ;  respect,  love,  obedience, 
honour  from  inferiors ;  truth,  justice,  tenderness  and 
brotherly  kindness  from  equals.  A  family  thus  regu- 
lated will  be  an  emblem  of  the  family  named  in  heaven 
— an  emblem,  faint  indeed,  but  clear  enough  to  make 
a  good  man  say:  "It  is  good  to  be  here."  The  very 
last  place  on  earth,  where  the  fires  of  virtue  and  piety 
burn,  is  the  domestic  hearth.  A  profession  of  even  the 
true  religion,  when  not  accompanied  by  a  cheerful  and 
habitual  performance  of  relative  duties,  is  nothing 
worth.  Heaven  is  not  a  den  of  outlaws.  If  we  love 
not  our  brother  whom  we  have  seen,  how  can  we  love 
God  whom  we  have  not  seen  ?     The  merciful  shall  ob- 


RELATIVE   DUTIES.  291 

tain  mercy ;  the  cruel  shall  reap  the  fruit  of  their  own 
doings ;  the  meek  shall  inherit  the  earth,  but  violent 
men  shall  not  live  out  half  their  days.  Tyrants  and 
rebels  are  alike  rejected. 

As  truth  is  always  in  order  to  godliness,  so  it  will 
produce  its  fruits  under  all  circumstances.  The  rales 
of  right  are  few  and  simple.  He  may  read  that  runs. 
Yet  how  little  are  they  heeded  except  where  impressed 
by  religious  sanctions  and  inwrought  in  the  soul  by 
the  power  of  God's  Spirit.  Then  they  are  mighty. 
Who  can  but  admire  the  effects  produced  in  a  Chris- 
tian household  by  such  maxims  and  precepts  as 
these  ? 

1.  Be  humble.  "  Only  by  pride  cometh  conten- 
tion." 

2.  "  Keep  thy  tongue  from  evil,  and  thy  lips  from 
speaking  guile." 

3.  Find  your  own  happiness  in  trying  to  make  others 
happy. 

4.  Mind  your  own  business.  Meddle  not.  Be  not 
officious. 

5.  Beware  of  a  fretful,  suspicious,  or  censorious 
temper. 

6.  Overcome  evil  with  good.     Bless  and  curse  not. 

7.  "  Love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law." 

8.  Endeavour  daily  to  add  something  to  the  com- 
mon stock  of  useful  knowledge  in  your  family. 

9.  Do  not  magnify  the  trials  or  afflictions  of  life. 

10.  Beware  of  sloth.  There  is  no  greater  enemy 
of  peace  and  happiness. 

11.  Make  it  your  business  to  serve  God. 

12.  Keep  out  of  debt.  "  Owe  no  man  anything." 
Duns  breed  bad  tempers  and  mean  dispositions. 


292  RELATIVE   DUTIES. 

13.  "  Remember  the  Sabbath-day  to  keep  it  holy." 
There  is  no  happy  family,  that  forgets  that  precept. 

14.  Keep  the  end  of  life  in  view.  This  will  re- 
press many  vain  wishes  and  chasten  immoderate 
desires. 

15.  Let  your  prayers  be  frequent  and  fervent. 

16.  Never  listen  to  scandal  nor  backbiting. 

17.  Set  the  Lord  always  before  you.  Seek  his 
glory.     Do  and  suffer  his  will  with  readiness. 

18.  Let  Christ  be  all  and  in  all.  He  is  everything 
to  us  poor  sinners.  He  is  the  chiefest  among  ten 
thousand  and  altogether  lovely. 

19.  Grieve  not  for  things,  which  cannot  be  helped. 

20.  Trust  in  the  Lord  for  ever. 

There  is  something  peculiarly  pleasing  in  the  mani- 
festations of  the  grace  of  Christ  to  a  truly  pious  family, 
however  humble  their  condition  in  life.  Hitherto  the 
Lord  has  gathered  a  far  richer  harvest  of  praise  from 
the  dwellings  of  the  poor  than  from  the  palaces  of 
kings.  Not  that  humble  souls  in  any  rank  of  life  are 
excluded,  but  it  is  so  hard  for  the  great  to  lie  down  in 
the  dust,  that  most  of  them  are  offended  in  Christ. 


CHAPTER    XXXIV. 


TEMPTATION. — HOW   TO   TREAT   IT. 

Though  it  is  not  profane,  yet  it  is  foolish  to  speak 
lightly  of  the  devil.  He  is  not  a  sacred  but  he  is  a 
dangerous  person.  Thoughts  of  levity  concerning  him 
are  quite  out  of  place.  They  throw  us  off  our  guard, 
make  us  secure,  lead  us  to  sloth  and  carelessness,  and 
thus  to  sin.  He  who  is  our  adversary,  and  has  slain 
his  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands,  is  never  more 
sure  of  his  prey  than  when  there  is  least  fear  of  him. 
He  began  his  work  of  revolt  in  heaven,  afterwards  in- 
vaded Eden,  assaulted  the  Son  of  God  himself  with 
the  greatest  violence  and  rancor,  and  will  always  be 
busy  till  he  is  chained  down  in  the  pit. 

His  ways  are  various.  Sometimes  he  appears  as  an 
aii2;el  of  light.  He  has  cordials  for  wounded  con- 
sciences.  He  speaks  much  of  mercy.  He  delights  in 
corrupting  the  truth.  His  great  object  is  to  keep  men 
from  embracing  Christ.  He  has  much  to  do  with  good 
men  and  religious  ordinances.  He  never  misses  a  ser- 
mon. He  knows  that  men  can  go  to  hell  in  the  pew 
of  a  church  as  well  as  in  the  box  of  a  theatre.  If  they 
will  rest  in  forms  and  be  satisfied  with  the  ordinances 
of  God  without  the  God  of  the  ordinances,  if  they  will 
go  about  to  establish  their  own  righteousness,  and  not 
submit  to  the  righteousness  of  Christ,  he  will  encourage 
25*  (203) 


294  TEMPTATION.  — HOW  TO  TREAT  IT. 

them,  and  help  them  to  be  joyful.     He  frequents  our 
closets  and  there  practises  the  same  arts. 

Again,  he  will  turn  accuser.  He  will  tell  men  it  is 
too  late  to  repent,  and  that  it  is  vain  for  them  to  hope 
for  mercy.  He  will  roar  like  a  lion.  He  delights  in 
terrifying  souls  from  Christ.  He  would  scare  all  away 
from  the  cross.  He  has  no  pity.  He  is  wholly  malig- 
nant and  unprincipled.  To  dishonour  God,  destroy 
souls,  fill  earth  with  woe  and  hell  with  the  damned,  is 
his  trade  and  his  delight.  The  keener  the  anguish, 
the  more  pitiless  the  remorse  and  the  deeper  the  guilt 
of  man,  the  more  is  Satan  gratified.  He  does  all  he 
can  to  make  earth  like  hell,  men  like  devils,  and  saints 
like  sinners.  He  delights  in  seeing  all  wickedness 
raging  and  rioting  on  earth.  He  is  the  God  of  the 
men  of  this  world.  He  commands  and  they  obey.  He 
is  the  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air,  the  spirit  that  now 
worketh  in  the  children  of  disobedience.  His  empire 
is  built  on  usurpation  and  fraud,  cruelty  and  crime, 
blood  and  rebellion. 

Christ  came  to  destroy  the  reign  of  devils,  nor  will 
he  rest  till  his  enemies  are  put  down.  The  most  terrible 
blow  Satan's  empire  ever  received  was  in  the  death  of 
Christ.  In  compassing  that,  Satan  missed  his  mark. 
The  resurrection,  ascension  to  heaven,  and  session  at 
the  right  hand  of  power  showed  the  end  of  Christ's 
death  and  his  Sonship  with  God.  By  all  these  Christ 
has  bruised  Satan  under  him.  By  pouring  out  the 
Holy  Spirit,  Christ  continually  weakens  the  power  of 
the  enemy.  Satan  rages,  and  hates,  and  lies,  and  mur- 
ders the  saints  ;  but  his  kingdom  must  fall.  The  king- 
doms of  the  world  shall  become  the  kingdoms  of  the 
Lord,  and  of  his  Christ.     Glorious  things  are  spoken 


TEMPTATION. — HOW  TO  TREAT  IT.  295 

of  Zion,  and  they  shall  all  be  fulfilled.  Yet  these  very 
things  awaken  the  malice  of  the  arch  enemy.  Finding 
he  cannot  rule,  he  tempts  and  annoys  the  children  of 
God.  He  is  their  great  foe.  He  studies  their  tempers, 
and  adapts  his  temptations  to  their  age,  office  and  in- 
clination. He  commonly  attacks  them  in  the  weakest 
point.  He  worries  those  whom  he  cannot  destroy.  If 
he  cannot  prevent  their  getting  a  crown,  he  will  at  least 
labour  that  it  shall  not  be  a  bright  one.  There  is  no 
deeper  distress  of  mind  on  earth  than  is  sometimes  felt 
by  men  sorely  tempted  by  thoughts  of  unbelief,  despair, 
blasphemy,  or  other  sins. 

A  few  words  of  counsel  are  here  offered  to  the 
tempted. 

1.  Resist  the  devil,  and  he  shall  flee  from  you. 
Fight  on.  Be  not  terrified,  nor  faint  at  his  assaults. 
He  is  not  almighty. 

2.  Do  not  attempt  to  out-wit  and  out-reason  your 
adversary ;  but  like  Christ,  quote  the  word  of  God  upon 
him.  The  metal  of  that  sword  is  too  high  and  its  edge 
too  keen  for  him.  He  hates  to  hear,  "  It  is  written," 
or  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord." 

3.  Lay  firm  hold  on  the  promises  made  to  the 
tempted,  and  be  strong  in  the  Lord.  "  He  will  not 
suffer  you  to  be  tempted  above  that  ye  are  able  to 
bear."  "  With  the  temptation  he  will  provide  a  way 
of  escape."  The  promises  when  believed  are  fatal  to 
Satan's  suggestions.  "  My  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee," 
rendered  harmless  all  the  buffetings  of  Satan  in  the 
case  of  Paul.  Know  God's  word.  Beware  of  igno- 
rance. 

4.  Be  much  on  your  guard  in  times  of  high  religious 
privilege  and  enjoyment.     Pirates  let  empty  vessels 


296  TEMPTATION. — HOW  TO  TREAT  IT. 

pass  without  molestation,  but  attack  those  which  are 
well  freighted.  "  If  thou  comest  to  serve  the  Lord, 
prepare  thyself  for  temptation." 

5.  Be  on  your  guard  in  the  day  of  fear  and  sadness. 
Satan  loves  to  terrify  those  already  affrighted,  and  to 
oppress  those  already  sorrowful.  Encotfrage  yourself 
in  the  Lord  your  God. 

6.  "  When  a  Christian  is  about  some  notable  enter- 
prise for  God's  glory,  then  will  Satan  lie  like  a  serpent 
in  the  way,  or  as  an  adder  in  the  path,  to  bite  the 
horse's  heels  that  the  rider  may  fall  backward."  In 
all  new  and  difficult  circumstances  be  vigilant. 

7.  If  formerly  you  have  fallen  under  the  power  of 
any  evil,  take  heed  that  you  fall  not  again.  One  lapse 
often  paves  the  way  for  another. 

8.  Beware  of  attempting  to  comprehend  things  be- 
yond your  reach,  to  understand  things  unintelligible, 
or  to  know  things  not  revealed.  "  There  are  three 
kinds  of  straits,  wherein  Satan  attempts  to  entrap 
believers,  nice  questions,  obscure  scriptures,  and  dark 
providences." 

9.  Be  humble.  Humility  is  a  defence  better  than 
all  gifts  besides.  "  All  temptations  are  laid  in  self- 
righteousness  and  self-excellency.  God  pursues  thee 
by  setting  Satan  upon  thee,  as  Laban  pursued  Jacob 
for  his  images.  These  must  be  torn  from  thee,  how 
unwilling  soever  thou  art.  These  hinder  Christ  from 
coming  in."  Humility  cannot  be  too  profound.  "  With 
the  lowly  is  wisdom." 

10.  If  you  have  been  led  astray  in  the  least,  hasten 
your  return  to  God.  Stay  not  away  because  you  have 
sinned  much  or  little.  The  message  is  the  same  to  all 
who  have  erred.    "  0  Israel,  return  unto  the  Lord  thy 


TEMPTATION. — HOW  TO  TREAT  IT.  297 

God;  for  thou  hast  fallen  by  thine  iniquity.     Take 
with  you  words,  and  turn  to  the  Lord." 

11.  If  you  have  been  able  to  repel  the  assaults  of 
the  wicked  one,  be  encouraged  but  not  rendered  care- 
less. "  Be  not  high-ininded  but  fear."  "  Let  him  that 
thinketh  he  standeth  take  heed  lest  he  fall."  "  Satan's 
opportunity  «is  a  soul  off  its  guard,"  said  Hewitson. 
"  The  saint's  sleeping  time  is  the  devil's  tempting 
time,"  says  Gurnall.  Haweis  says  :  "  As  not  ignorant 
of  his  devices,  we  should  especially  beware  of  security. 
Let  not  him  that  putteth  on  the  armour  boast  as  he  who 
putteth  it  off.  When  the  cold  turf  covers  our  head, 
then  the  wicked  will  cease  from  troubling,  and  the 
weary  have  perfect  rest;  but  here  every  step  we  take 
we  are  among  lions,  and  must  stand  on  our  watch-tower, 
fearing  always,  and  working  out  our  salvation  with  that 
trembling  and  care  which  alone  can  secure  it.  A  holy 
jealousy  is  the  great  preservative  against  falling  away. 
The  moment  we  begin  to  slumber,  our  watchful  adver- 
sary is  ready  to  take  advantage  against  us  ;  but  blessed 
is  the  man  whom  his  Lord  when  he  cometh  shall  find 
tvatching." 

12.  Be  greatly  on  your  guard  in  solitude,  or  when 
called  to  perform  duty  alone,  and  without  the  aid  and 
encouragement  of  others.  Watch  closely  then  your 
thoughts  and  ways.  "  Two  are  better  than  one  ;  be- 
cause they  have  a  good  reward  for  their  labour.  For 
if  they  fall,  the  one  will  lift  up  his  fellow ;  but  woe  to 
him  that  is  alone  when  he  falleth ;  for  he  hath  not 
another  to  help  him  up."  Ecc.  iv.  9,  10.  It  seems  to 
have  been  when  Eve  was  alone  that  she  was  tempted 
and  overcome,  and  so  she  was  first  in  the  transgression, 
Satan  knew  what  an  advantage  solitude  would  giye  him 


298  TEMPTATION. — HOW  TO  TREAT  IT. 

in  plying  the  blessed  Master  with  his  wicked  sugges- 
tions when  he  was  in  the  wilderness.  Doubtless  our 
Lord  felt  this  at  that  time.  It  is  certain  he  felt  his 
solitude  in  his  last  temptation,  when  "  he  cometh  unto 
his  disciples,  and  findeth  them  asleep,  and  saith  unto 
Peter,  What !  could  ye  not  watch  with  me  one  hour?" 

13.  When  you  find  yourself  -quite  fascinated  with 
any  temporal  plans,  pursuits  or  pleasures,  set  a  double 
guard  against  temptation. 

"  We  should  suspect  some  danger  nigh, 
Where  we  possess  delight." 

The  Bible  urges  moderation  and  the  suppression  of 
inordinate  affection  by  the  most  solemn  considerations, 
such  as  that  "  the  Judge  standeth  before  the  door ;" 
"The  Lord  is  at  hand." 

14.  Be  prepared  for  temptations  at  all  times.  Satan 
invades  our  most  sacred  retirements.  He  follows  us 
everywhere.  He  is  the  "  lion  of  the  evening."  He 
may  assault  you  even  when  dying  a  Christian  death. 
When  great  John  Knox  was  near  his  end,  he  lay  with 
his  eyes  closed  for  a  while,  but  sighed  deeply.  Being 
asked  the  cause,  he  said  :  "I  have  formerly,  during 
my  frail  life,  sustained  many  contests  and  many  assaults 
of  Satan,  but  at  present  that  roaring  lion  has  assailed 
me  most  furiously,  and  put  forth  all  his  strength  to 
devour  and  make  an  end  of  me  at  once.  Often  before 
hath  he  placed  my  sins  before  my  eyes,  often  tempted 
me  to  despair,  often  attempted  to  ensnare  me  by  the 
allurements  of  the  world  ;  but  these  weapons  being 
broken  by  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  the  word  of  God, 
he  could  not  prevail.  Now  he  has  attacked  me  in 
another  way.  The  cunning  serpent  has  laboured  to 
persuade  me  that  I  have  merited  heaven  and  eternal 


TEMPTATION. — HOW  TO  TREAT  IT.  299 

blessedness  by  the  faithful  discharge  of  my  ministry. 
But,  blessed  be  God,  who  has  enabled  me  to  beat  down 
and  quench  his  fiery  darts  by  suggesting  to  me  such 
passages  of  Scripture  as  these  :  '  What  hast  thou,  that 
thou  hast  not  received?  By  the  grace  of  God  I  am 
what  I  am  ;  not  i,  but  the  grace  of  God  in  me.'  Being 
thus  vanquished,  he  left  me." 

15.  Beware  of  idleness.  Be  diligent  in  business. 
Keep  your  mind  employed  in  something  profitable, 
and  your  hands  engaged  in  something  lawful.  "  Our 
idle  days  are  the  devil's  busy  ones,"  says  Bishop  Hall. 

16.  Our  great  refuge  in  temptation  is  the  throne  of 
grace,  sprinkled  with  atoning  blood.  In  vain  will  we 
watch  unless  we  pray.  In  vain  will  we  pray,  if  we 
plead  any  goodness  of  our  own.  Let  us  make  mention 
of  Christ's  righteousness,  even  of  his  only.  "  There 
are  no  saving  views  of  God  but  in  Christ,  and  there 
are  no  gracious  views  God  hath  of  men  but  in  Christ. 
If  we  look  on  God  out  of  Christ,  we  are  dazzled  with 
an  overwhelming,  confounding  majesty ;  if  God  look 
on  us  out  of  Christ,  he  seeth  hateful  and  hated  sin- 
ners." Nothing  but  the  blood  of  Christ  can  quench 
the  fire  of  God's  wrath,  the  fire  of  lust,  or  the  fiery 
darts"  of  Satan.  That  blood  can  be  found  at  the  throne 
of  grace,  and  nowhere  else.  Hold  fast  also  all  God's 
word  says  of  Christ's  intercession.  It  is  life  from  the 
dead  to  the  tempted.  "  Simon,  Simon,  Satan  hath 
desired  to  have  you,  that  he  may  sift  you  as  wheat ; 
but  I  have  prayed  for  thee,  that  thy  faith  fail  not." 
Luke  xxii.  31,  32.  "  Seeing  that  we  have  a  great 
High  Priest,  that  is  passed  into  the  heavens,  Jesus  the 
Son  of  God,  let  us  hold  fast  our  profession.  For  we 
have  not  a  High  Priest  which  cannot  be  touched  with 


300  TEMPTATION. — HOW  TO  TREAT  IT. 

the  feeling  of  our  infirmities ;  but  was  in  all  points 
tempted  like  as  we  are,  yet  without  sin.  Let  us  there- 
fore come  boldly  unto  the  throne  of  grace,  that  we 
may  obtain  mercy,  and  find  grace  to  help  in  time  of 
need."  Heb.  iv.  14 — 16.  "  And  I  heard  a  loud  voice 
saying  in  heaven,  Now  is  come  salvation,  and  strength, 
and  the  kingdom  of  our  God,  and  the  power  of  his 
Christ ;  for  the  accuser  of  our  brethren  is  cast  down, 
which  accused  them  before  our  God  day  and  night. 
And  they  overcame  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  and  by 
the  word  of  their  testimony ;  and  they  loved  not  their 
lives  unto  the  death."  Rev.  xii.  10,  11.  Are  you  con- 
tent, are  you  resolved  to  walk  in  their  footsteps  ?  If 
so,  you  too  shall  soon  overcome. 


CHAPTER    XXXV. 


THE  POWER  OF  DIVINE  GRACE  TO  CONSOLE. 

The  gospel  is  called  the  power  of  God,  and  the  wis- 
dom of  God.  Nor  is  it  losing  any  of  its  efficacy.  In 
the  hands  of  the  Holy  Spirit  it  works  wonders.  The 
secret  of  its  power  is  chiefly  in  its  grace.  By  reveal- 
ing love  it  begets  love.  "Responsibility  prevents 
crimes  and  makes  all  attempts  against  law  dangerous." 
But  love  goes  much  further.  It  never  ceases  to  desire 
to  serve  and  please.  It  is  ingenious  in  devising 
methods  of  service.  It  is  full  of  alacrity,  life  and  en< 
ergy.  It  never  counts  the  cost,  and  is  patient  of  endu- 
rance ;  even  as  "  Jacob  served  seven  years  for  Rachel, 
and  they  seemed  unto  him  but  a  few  days,  for  the  love 
he  had  to  her."  Important  as  are  the  principles  of 
natural  religion,  it  is  an  honour  peculiar  to  revealed 
truth,  that  it  converts  the  soul.  It  not  only  converts 
men ;  it  guides  and  cheers,  purifies  and  elevates  their 
minds.  It  throws  floods  of  light  on  the  darkness  that 
surrounds  us,  and  makes  us  sweetly  submissive  to  God's 
will  and  authority.  Who  does  not  need  such  help  ? 
There  is  no  sober  mind  on  earth,  which,  like  the  sun- 
dial, notes  only  the  unclouded  hours.  We  all  have  our 
days  of  darkness.  "  Man,  that  is  born  of  a  woman,  is 
of  few  days,  and  full  of  trouble."  "  Who  has  not  lost 
20  (301) 


302       THE  POWER  OE  DIVINE  GRACE  TO  CONSOLE. 

a  friend?"  Who  has  not  wept  over  departed  joys, 
blighted  hopes,  and  darkened  prospects  ?  At  times 
nature  casts  a  dark  pall  over  all  her  face,  providence 
assumes  a  threatening  aspect,  fears  rise  up  like  moun- 
tains in  our  path,  and  trouble  comes  in  like  waves  of 
the  sea,  or  falls  like  water-spouts  from  heaven.  At 
such  a  time,  God's  Spirit  can  pour  light  and  joy  into 
our  hearts,  and  give  us  songs  in  the  house  of  our  pil- 
grimage. But  if  so,  he  will  put  great  honour  upon  the 
Bible.  "  Remember  the  word  unto  thy  servant,  upon 
which  thou  hast  caused  me  to  hope.  This  is  my  com- 
fort in  my  affliction :  for  thy  word  hath  quickened 
me."  Psa.  cxix.  49,  50.  Solid  peace  to  the  troubled 
mind  must  be  based  in  the  pardon  of  sin  and  the  favour 
of  God.  The  gospel  calls  the  poor  and  needy,  the 
weary  and  heavy-laden,  the  sad  and  sorrowful,  and 
leads  them  to  Christ,  and  through  his  blood  and  right- 
eousness gives  comfort,  which  can  be  found  nowhere 
else.  Even  a  little  divine  knowledge  firmly  believed 
will  do  great  things  for  us  in  the  day  of  calamity, 
while  a  soul  without  acquaintance  with  God  is  shut  up 
to  misery. 

Marcus  Fabius  Quintilian  was  a  great  critic,  advo- 
cate and  orator.  He  was  the  friend  of  Pliny,  and  re- 
ceived the  favour  of  the  emperors.  He  died  at  Rome 
A.  D.  60.  His  great  work  is  his  "Institutes  of  the 
Orator."  The  introduction  to  the  sixth  book  of  this 
treatise  relates  the  loss  of  his  wife  and  children,  and 
especially  the  recent  death  of  a  promising  son.  What 
are  his  thoughts  on  an  occasion  so  full  of  interest  ? 
He  complains  of  the  "bitterness  of  fortune,"  and 
says  that  this  was  "  the  second  wound  that  was  struck 
deep  to  afflict  me,  now  a  childless  father !     What  then 


THE  POWER  OF  DIVINE  GRACE  TO  CONSOLE.       303 

shall  I  do  ?  or  on  what  shall  I  any  more  employ  the 
unhappy  talents,  which  the  gods  seem  to  reprove  ?  It 
was  my  misfortune  to  be  borne  down  by  a  like  stroke, 
when  I  set  about  writing  the  book,  which  I  gave  to  the 
public,  *  On  the  Causes  of  the  Corruption  of  Eloquence.' 
Why  then  did  I  not  cast  into  the  fire  that  accursed 
work  ?  Why  did  not  I  commit  it,  with  that  little  un- 
happy learning  I  might  have,  to  the  flames  of  the 
funeral  pile  kindled  so  untimely  to  consume  my 
bowels  ?  *  *  What  good  parent  would  pardon  me,  if  I 
again  engaged  in  study  ?  Who  would  not  detest  my 
insensibility,  if  I  made  any  other  use  of  my  voice,  than 
to  vent  complaints  against  the  injustice  of  the  gods, 
who  have  made  me  survive  all  that  was  dearest  to  me  in 
the  world ;  if  I  did  not  proclaim  aloud  that  there  is  no 
providence  in  the  regulation  of  human  affairs  ?  *  * 
There  reigns  a  secret  envy,  jealous  of  our  happiness, 
which  pleases  itself  in  nipping  the  bud  of  our  hopes. 
*  *  If  my  life  be  my  crime,  it  shall  also  be  my  pun- 
ishment. *  *  I  can  brave  fortune ;  it  has  brought  my 
vexations  to  their  height,  and  in  this  I  find  a  doleful 
but  just  security."  Who  can  without  a  shudder  of 
horror  read  such  effusions  of  rage,  pride,  sullenness 
and  impiety  ?  A  human  soul,  thus  stung,  rebellious 
and  maddened,  is  one  of  the  saddest  spectacles  ever 
beheld  on  earth.  A  wild  bull  caught  in  a  net,  and 
filling  the  forest  with  his  roaring,  is  a  Hebrew 
emblem  of  a  man  thus  minded.  In  the  day  of  ca- 
lamity how  gloomy  is  heathenism,  how  cheerless  is 
philosophy  !  Neither  brings  any  solace  to  the  stricken 
heart. 

On  the  other  hand  a  little  light  from  heaven  is  a 
blessing.     The  man  of  Uz  was  also  a  great  orator. 


304       THE  POWER  OF  DIVINE  GRACE  TO  CONSOLE. 

"  Unto  him  meji  gave  ear,  and  waited,  and  kept  silence 
at  his  counsel."  After  his  words  "  they  spoke  not 
again,  and  they  waited  for  him  as  for  the  rain."  He 
was  held  in  the  highest  veneration.  "  When  the  young 
men  saw  him,  they  hid  themselves."  In  his  presence 
"  the  aged  arose  and  stood  up.  The  princes  refrained 
talking,  and  laid  their  hands  on  their  mouth.  The 
nobles  held  their  peace,  and  their  tongue  cleaved  to  the 
roof  of  their  jaws."  He  was  also  the  greatest  captain 
of  his  age.  "  He  dwelt  as  king  in  the  army.  He 
brake  the  jaws  of  the  wicked,  and  plucked  the  spoil 
out  of  his  teeth."  He  was  also  a  great  philanthropist. 
"  When  the  ear  heard  him  then  it  blessed  him ;  and 
when  the  eye  saw  him,  it  gave  witness  to  him ;  because 
he  delivered  the  poor  that  cried,  and  the  fatherless, 
and  him  that  had  none  to  help  him.  *  *  He  caused 
the  widow's  heart  to  sing  for  joy;  he  was  eyes  to  the 
blind,  and  feet  to  the  lame.  He  was  a  father  to  the 
poor :  and  the  cause,  which  he  knew  not,  he  searched 
out."  He  was  also  the  richest  man  in  the  East.  "He 
washed  his  steps  with  butter,  and  the  rock  poured  him 
out  rivers  of  oil."  For  a  long  time  he  enjoyed  this 
prosperity  and  said,  "  I  shall  die  in  my  nest,  and  mul- 
tiply my  days  as  the  sand."  "His  root  was  spread 
out  by  the  waters,  and  the  dew  lay  all  night  upon  his 
branch.  His  glory  was  fresh  in  him,  and  his  bow  was 
renewed  in  his  hand."  He  had  seven  thousand  sheep, 
three  thousand  camels,  five  hundred  yoke  of  oxen,  and 
a  great  number  of  servants.  He  had  also  ten  children, 
seven  sons  and  three  daughters.  Yet  in  one  day  all 
were  taken  from  him.  He  was  bereft  indeed,  and  with 
crushing  suddenness.  Suspicion  instantly  wrapped 
him  in  her  poisoned  mantle,  and  neglect  from  his  ser- 


THE  POWER  OF  DIVINE  GRACE  TO  CONSOLE.      305 

vants,  and  scorn  from  the  abjects  speedily  followed. 
w  Then  Job  arose,  and  rent  his  mantle,  and  shaved  his 
head,  and  fell  down  upon  the  ground,  and  worshipped, 
and  said,  Naked  came  I  out  of  my  mother's  womb, 
and  naked  shall  I  return  thither  :  The  Lord  gave,  and 
the  Lord  hath  taken  away ;  blessed  be  the  name  of 
the  Lord.  In  all  this  Job  sinned  not,  nor  charged 
God  foolishly."  Job  i.  20 — 22.  It  is  commonly  be- 
lieved that  Job  lived  before  any  part  of  God's  word 
was  written,  though  not  before  many  important  truths 
had  been  revealed  to  the  fathers.  He  had  some  light, 
though  not  the  full  light  of  the  gospel.  He  also  em- 
braced the  truth  as  far  as  he  knew  it.  Behold  the  dif- 
ference between  the  proud  Roman  and  the  humble 
Arabian,  the  former  without  God  in  the  world,  the  lat- 
ter saying,  "  I  will  trust  him  though  he  slay  me." 
Quintilian  lived  in  the  days  of  Christ  and  his  apostles, 
and  might  have  heard  Paul  preach,  and  might  have 
known  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  In  one  sentence  of 
his  work  he  is  thought  by  some  to  have  made  a  scorn- 
ful allusion  to  the  Christians.  Strange  that  a  man 
should  blaspheme  his  own  gods,  and  yet  see  no  need 
of  a  better  religion.  Without  the  light  of  truth,  life 
is  without  happiness,  and  death  is  without  hope.  A 
false  religion  is  a  horrible  engine  of  torture.  But  the 
gospel  freely  offers  precious  blessings  to  all  the  sons 
of  men,  and  especially  to  the  children  of  sorrow.  So 
that  all,  who  heartily  embrace  it,  may  even  "  rejoice 
in  tribulation."  How  strange  it  is  that  any  should 
oppose  the  spread  of  the  gospel.  How  can  one  defend 
himself  from  the  charge  of  malignancy,  when  he 
would  withhold  from  the  wretched  of  his  race  the  cup 
of  divine  consolations  ?  Let  those,  who  tell  of  the  hap- 
26* 


306       THE  POWER  OF  DIVINE  GRACE  TO  CONSOLE. 

piness  of  the  heathen,  henceforth  keep  silence.  "  Their 
sorrows  shall  be  multiplied  that  hasten  after  another 
god."  Their  idols  "  have  mouths  but  they  speak  not ; 
eyes  have  they,  but  they  see  not ;  they  have  ears  but 
they  hear  not ;  noses  have  they,  but  they  smell  not ; 
they  have  hands,  but  they  handle  not ;  feet,  but  they 
walk  not ;  neither  speak  they  through  their  throat. 
They  that  make  them  are  like  unto  them  ;  so  is  every 
one  that  trusteth  in  them."  There  is  but  one  only 
living  and  true  God ;  and  Jesus  Christ  is  his  Son.  His 
mediation  alone  can  bring  salvation.  His  word  is 
truth.  His  blood  is  the  sole  efficacious  sacrifice  for  sin. 
His  gospel  is  glad  tidings  of  great  joy  to  all,  that  hear 
the  joyful  sound.  Blessed  are  they,  all  they,  and  only 
they,  who  have  made  Jehovah  their  refuge,  and  hope 
and  portion.  This  must  be  done  with  the  heart.  The 
Holy  Ghost  must  illumine  the  darkened  understanding, 
else  we  shall  be  like  the  bat  and  the  owl,  which  see  not 
at  noon.  The  divine  Spirit  alone  can  so  reveal  to  us 
the  fulness  and  excellency  of  Christ,  as  to  enable  us 
to  "  glory  in  tribulation."  Oh  that  all  the  wretched 
would  come  and  with  joy  draw  water  out  of  the  wells 
of  salvation.  Jesus  came  "  to  appoint  unto  them  that 
mourn  in  Zion,  to  give  them  beauty  for  ashes,  the  oil 
of  joy  for  mourning,  the  garment  of  praise  for  the 
spirit  of  heaviness."  "  Happy  is  he  that  hath  the  God 
of  Jacob  for  his  help,  whose  hope  is  in  the  Lord  his 
God :  which  made  heaven,  and  earth,  the  sea,  and  all 
that  therein  is ;  which  executeth  judgment  for  the  op- 
pressed j  which  giveth  food  to  the  hungry.  The  Lord 
loveth  the  prisoners.  The  Lord  openeth  the  eyes  of 
the  blind ;  the  Lord  raiseth  them  that  are  bowed 
down ;  the  Lord  loveth  the  righteous ;  the  Lord  pre- 


THE  POWER  OF  DIVINE  GRACE  TO  CONSOLE.  307 

serveth  the  strangers ;  he  relieveth  the  fatherless  and 
widow;  but  the  way  of  the  wicked  he  turneth 
upside  down.  The  Lord  shall  reign  for  ever,  even 
thy  God,  0  Zion,  unto  all  generations.  Praise  ye 
the  Lord." 


CHAPTER    XXXVI 


AFFLICTIONS  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS — SAYINGS — PROMISES. 

It  has  long  excited  surprise  that  God's  people  should 
in  all  ages  quietly  bear  the  ills  of  life.  Sinners  have 
fainted  at  seeing  or  hearing  of  sufferings,  in  which  the 
patient  publicly  and  loudly  gloried.  The  grace  of 
Christ  is  very  delightfully  manifested  in  taking  away 
the  evil  of  affliction,  in  giving  support  under  it,  in 
bringing  good  out  of  it,  and  in  granting  a  final  victory 
over  it.  Perhaps  there  is  on  earth  no  saint,  who  be- 
lieves that  he  could  have  made  his  present  attainments 
with  less  affliction  than  has  fallen  to  his  lot.  Nor  is 
there  any  good  man,  who  has  fully  escaped  from 
any  trial,  however  grievous,  who  does  not  look  back 
with  gratitude  to  the  mercy  manifested  both  in  send- 
ing and  in  sanctifying  it  to  his  good.  Indeed  from 
the  earliest  times  down  to  the  present,  such  strange 
things  have  been  said  and  done  under  and  after  the 
sorest  afflictions,  as  can  be  accounted  for  in  no  way 
irrespective  of  the  amazing  kindness  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 
Scripture,  Church  History,  and  Religious  Biography 
abound  in  what  the  wicked  commonly  esteem  para- 
doxes on  this  subject.  Instead  of  framing  any  formal 
argument,  or  indulging  in  any  exhortation  on  the  sub- 
ject, some  of  these  immortal  sentences  are  set  down 
for  the  use  of  all  concerned.  Let  us  first  look  at  a 
(308) 


AFFLICTIONS  OF  THE   RIGHTEOUS.  309 

few  found  in  God's  word :  "  Shall  we  receive  good  at 
the  hand  of  the  Lord,  and  shall  we  not  receive  evil  ?" — 
Job.  "  Our  God  has  punished  us  less  than  our  ini- 
quities deserve." — Ezra.  "  I  was  dumb,  I  opened  not 
my  mouth  ;  because  thou  didst  it."  "  It  is  good  for 
me  that  I  have  been  afflicted  ;  that  I  might  learn  thy 
statutes."  "  Before  I  was  afflicted  I  went  astray  :  but 
now  have  I  kept  thy  word." — David.  "I  will  look 
unto  the  Lord ;  I  will  wait  for  the  God  of  my  salva- 
tion ;  my  God  will  hear  me."  "  The  Lord  doth  not 
afflict  willingly,  nor  grieve  the  children  of  men." 
"Wherefore  should  a  living  man  complain,  a  man  for 
the  punishment  of  his  sins?" — Jeremiah.  "Rejoice 
not  against  me,  0  mine  enemy ;  when  I  fall,  I  shall 
arise  ;  when  I  sit  in  darkness,  the  Lord  shall  be  a  light 
unto  me." — Micah.  "  Although  the  fig-tree  shall  not 
blossom,  neither  shall  fruit  be  in  the  vines;  the  labour 
of  the  olive  shall  fail,  and  the  fields  shall  yield  no 
meat ;  the  flock  shall  be  cut  off  from  the  fold,  and 
there  shall  be  no  herd  in  the  stalls,  yet  I  will  rejoice 
in  the  Lord,  I  will  joy  in  the  God  of  my  salvation." — 
Hdbakkuk.  "  All  that  the  Father  giveth  me  shall  come 
to  me ;  and  him  that  cometh  to  me  I  will  in  no  wise 
cast  out."  "  Peace  I  leave  with  you,  my  peace  I  give 
unto  you ;  not  as  the  world  giveth,  give  I  unto  you. 
Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled,  neither  let  it  be 
afraid." — Jesus  Christ.  "We  know  that  all  things 
work  together  for  good  to  them  that  love  God,  to  them 
who  are  the  called  according  to  his  purpose."  "Our 
light  affliction,  which  is  but  for  a  moment,  worketh  for 
us  a  far  more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory." 
"  If  we  suffer  with  him,  we  shall  also  reign  with  him." 
— Paul. 


310  AFFLICTIONS  OF  THE   RIGHTEOUS. 

The  secret  of  these  triumphs  of  faith  is  disclosed  in 
two  precious  passages  of  Scripture,  each  of  which  shows 
the  connection  of  all  these  things  with  Jesus  Christ. 
The  first  is  in  Rev.  iii.  19,  where  the  Son  of  God  says, 
"As  many  as  I  love,  I  rebuke  and  chasten."  If  any 
word  in  this  sentence  should  be  emphatic,  perhaps  it 
is  the  pronoun,  I.  The  other  passage  is  in  Isa.  lxiii. 
9 :  "In  all  their  affliction  he  was  afflicted,  and  the 
angel  of  his  presence  saved  them ;  in  his  love  and  in 
his  pity  he  redeemed  them ;  and  he  bare  them,  and 
carried  them  all  the  days  of  old."  "  The  angel  of  his 
presence"  is  unquestionably  the  same  that  Malachi 
calls  the  Angel  or  "  Messenger  of  the  covenant."  The 
grace  of  Christ  always  was  the  stay  of  the  Church. 
He  has  chosen  his  people  in  the  furnace  of  affliction. 
In  short  God  fulfils  to  them  those  faithful  promises, 
"  When  thou  passest  through  the  waters,  I  will  be  with 
thee,  and  through  the  rivers,  they  shall  not  overflow 
thee ;  when  thou  walkest  through  the  fire,  thou  shalt 
not  be  burned  ;  neither  shall  the  flame  kindle  upon 
thee."  Isa.  xliii.  2.  "I  will  not  leave  you  comfort- 
less; I  will  come  to  you."  John  xiv.  18.  "Even 
the  very  hairs  of  your  head  are  all  numbered." 
Luke  xii.  7.  "  As  thy  days,  so  shall  thy  strength  be." 
Deut.  xxxiii.  25. 

Not  only  do  we  find  the  Scriptures  full  of  such 
things  as  have  just  been  quoted,  but  even  since  the 
close  of  the  sacred  canon  the  Church  of  God  has  been 
full  of  precious  sayings  suited  to  encourage  the  most 
sorrowing.  Here  is  a  short  and  very  imperfect  selec- 
tion of  such  thoughts,  given  merely  as  a  specimen  of 
the  common  sentiments  of  God's  people  respecting  af- 
fliction. It  will  be  readily  seen  that  they  are  drawn 
from  the  word  of  God. 


AFFLICTIONS  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS.  311 

"  God  had  one  Son  on  earth  without  sin,  but  never 
one  without  affliction." — Augustine. 

"Afflictions  are  the  theology  of  Christians." — • 
Luther. 

"  Without  adversity  grace  withers." — Mason. 

"  God  may  cast  down  but  he  will  never  cast  off  true 
believers. ' ' —  Case. 

"  Sanctified  afflictions  are  spiritual  promotions.' ' — 
Dodd. 

"  Time  is  short ;  and,  if  your  cross  is  heavy,  you 
have  not  far  to  carry  it." — Anon. 

"Afflictions  are  blessings  to  us,  when  we  can  bless 
God  for  afflictions." — Dyer. 

"  Christian,  hath  not  God  taught  thee,  by  his  word 
and  Spirit,  how  to  read  the  short-hand  of  his  provi- 
dence ?  Dost  thou  not  know  that  the  saints'  afflictions 
stand  for  blessings?" — Curnall. 

"No  righteous  man  would,  in  his  right  mind,  be 
willing  to  make  an  exchange  of  his  smartest  afflictions 
for  a  wicked  man's  prosperity,  with  all  the  circum- 
stances attending  it.  It  cannot  therefore  be  bad  with 
the  righteous  in  the  worst  condition." — CharnocJc. 

"  This  winter-weather  shall  be  useful  to  destroy  and 
rot  those  rank  weeds,  which  the  summer  of  prosperity 
bred."—  Flavel 

"  The  school  of  the  cross  is  the  school  of  light." — 
Anon. 

"  God's  people  have  often  been  carried  to  heaven  in 
the  fiery  chariot  of  affliction." — Mrs.  Savage. 

"  Winter  leads  the  sap  down  into  the  roots,  while 
summer  calls  it  up  into  the  branches,  and  displays  it  in 
the  blossoms  and  fruit." — Jay. 

"  The  tree  of  the  cross  being  cast  into  the  waters 


312  AFFLICTIONS  OF  THE   RIGHTEOUS. 

of  affliction  has  rendered  them  wholesome  and  medici- 
nal."— Oiven. 

"  Our  departed  Christian  friends  cannot  descend  to 
share  with  us  in  our  sorrows ;  but  by  holy  contempla- 
tion we  may  daily  ascend,  and  partake  with  them  in 
their  joys." — Howe. 

u  In  times  of  affliction  we  commonly  meet  with  the 
sweetest  experiences  of  the  love  of  God." — Bunyan. 

"  As  no  temporal  blessing  is  good  enough  to  be  a 
sign  of  eternal  election;  so  no  temporal  affliction  is 
bad  enough  to  be  an  evidence  of  reprobation." — Ar- 
row smith. 

"  What  unthankfulness  is  it  to  forget  our  consola- 
tions, and  to  look  only  upon  matter  of  grievance ;  to 
think  so  much  upon  two  or  three  crosses  as  to  forget 
an  hundred  blessings." — Sibbs. 

"Every  man  has  a  heaven  and  a  hell.  Earth  is  the 
sinner's  heaven  ;  his  hell  is  to  come.  The  godly  have 
their  hell  upon  earth,  when  they  are  vexed  with  temp- 
tations and  afflictions  by  Satan  and  his  accomplices, 
their  heaven  is  above  in  endless  happiness.  If  it  be 
ill  with  me  on  earth,  it  is  well  that  my  torment  is  so 
short  and  easy ;  I  cannot  be  so  unreasonable  as  to  ex- 
pect two  heavens." — Bishop  Hall. 

"  All  is  well  that  ends  everlastingly  well." — Anon. 

"  It  is  a  blessed  thing  for  the  afflicted  to  wait  God's 
time  and  determination." — Lightfoot. 

"  When  temporal  evils  are  effectual  means  to  pro- 
mote our  everlasting  happiness,  the  amiableness  and 
excellency  of  the  end  changes  their  nature,  and  makes 
these  calamities  that  in  themselves  are  intolerable  to 
become  light  and  easy." — Anon. 

"  Crosses  and  afflictions  are  God's  call  to  examine 
our  hearts  and  our  lives." — Richardson. 


AFFLICTIONS  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS.  313 

"  Too  much  honey  doth  turn  to  gall,  and  too  much 
joy,  even  spiritual,  would  make  us  wantons.  Happier 
a  great  deal  is  that  man's  case,  whose  soul  by  inward 
desolation  is  humbled,  than  he  whose  heart  is  through 
abundance  of  spiritual  delight  lifted  up  and  exalted 
above  measure.  Better  it  is  sometimes  to  go  down 
into  the  pit  with  him,  who  beholding  darkness,  and  be- 
wailing the  loss  of  inward  joy  and  consolation,  crieth 
from  the  bottom  of  the  lowest  hell,  My  Grod,  my  Gfod, 
why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ?  than  continually  to  walk 
arm  in  arm  with  angels,  to  sit  as  it  were  in  Abraham's 
bosom,  and  to  have  no  thought,  no  cogitation,  but,  I 
thank  my  Gfod  it  is  not  with  me  as  it  is  with  other 
men.v  —Hooker . 

"  Through  Christ's  satisfaction  for  sin,  the  very  na- 
ture of  affliction  is  changed,  with  regard  to  believers. 
As  death,  which  was,  at  first,  the  wages  of  sin,  is  now 
become  a  bed  of  rest  (Isa.  lvii.  2) ;  so  afflictions  are 
not  the  rod  of  God's  anger,  but  the  gentle  physic  of  a 
tender  father." — Crisp. 

"  That  is  always  best  for  us,  which  is  best  for  our 
souls." — P.  Henry. 

"Afflictions  are  sent  to  stir  up  prayer.  If  they 
have  that  effect,  and,  when  we  are  afflicted,  we  pray 
more,  and  pray  better,  than  before,  we  may  hope  that 
God  will  hear  our  prayer,  and  give  ear  to  our  cry ; 
for  the  prayer,  which,  by  his  providence,  he  gives  oc- 
casion for,  and  which,  by  his  Spirit  of  grace,  he  in- 
dites, shall  not  return  void." — M.  Henry. 

"  If  we  have  the  kingdom  at  last,  it  is  no  great  mat- 
ter what  we  suffer  by  the  way." — Manton. 

"  To  the  poor,  humble,  and  despised  believer  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  exclusively  belongs ;  there  his  best 
27 


314  AFFLICTIONS  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS. 

desires  will  be  eternally  satisfied,  his  tears  will  be 
changed  for  triumphant  songs  of  joy,  and  'his  reward 
will  be  great'  in  the  blessed  society  of  the  holy  pro- 
phets and  apostles ;  and  in  that  of  the  incarnate  Son 
of  God,  who  passed  the  same  way  to  his  glory." — 
Dr.  Thomas  Scott. 

"No  cloud  can  overshadow  a  true  Christian  but  his 
faith  may  discern  a  rainbow  in  it." — Anon. 

"  He,  who  is  prepared  in  whatsoever  state  he  is 
therewith  to  be  content,  has  learned  effectually  the  art 
of  being  happy,  and  possesses  the  alchymic  stone, 
which  will  change  every  metal  into  gold." — Dwight. 

"  I  have  never  met  with  a  single  instance  of  adver- 
sity which  I  have  not  afterwards  seen  to  be  for  my 
good."  "  I  have  never  heard  a  Christian  on  his  death- 
bed complaining  of  his  afflictions." — Br.  Alexander 
Proudjit. 

"  All  the  sufferings  of  the  believer  are  not  hell,  but 
they  are  all  the  hell  he  shall  suffer." — Mason. 

"  Christians  ought  neither  to  expect  nor  wish  to 
have  suffering  with  Christ,  disconnected  with  their  be- 
ing glorified  with  him.  The  former  is  a  preparation 
for  the  latter.  Rom.  viii.  17." — Hodge. 

"  Oh,  what  must  Christ  be  in  himself,  when  he 
sweetens  heaven,  sweetens  Scriptures,  sweetens  ordi- 
nances, sweetens  earth,  and  even  sweetens  trials !" — 
J.  Broivn  of  Haddington. 

"  It  is  happy  for  us  if  we  have  suffered  enough  to 
make  us  desire  a  better  country,  that  is  a  heavenly ; 
but  surely  all  the  painful  experiences  we  have  hitherto 
met  with  have  not  been  more  than  sufficient  to  bring 
us  into  this  waiting  posture." — John  Newton. 

"  God  denies  a  Christian  nothing,  but  with  a  design 
to  give  him  something  better." — Cecil. 


AFFLICTIONS  OF  THE   RIGHTEOUS.  315 

"  If  the  blessed  Jesus,  who  had  no  sin  of  his  own, 
bore  the  wrath  of  his  heavenly  Father  for  a  world  of 
sinners,  how  willingly  ought  I  to  endure  all  the  pain  I 
suffer,  if  my  dying  example  might  be  but  the  means 
of  the  salvation  of  one  soul." — David  Rice  of  Ky. 

"  There  is  really  much  more  real  satisfaction  to  be 
found  in  a  crucified  than  in  an  idolized  world." — 
Witherspoon. 

"  "Wherefore  will  not  God 
E'en  now,  from  ills  on  others  brought,  exempt 
The  offspring  of  regenerating  grace, 
The  children  of  his  love  ?     Imperfect  yet, 
They  need  the  chastening  of  eternal  care, 
To  save  them  from  the  wily  blandishments 
Of  error,  and  to  win  their  hearts  away 
From  the  polluting,  ruining  joys  of  earth/' 

[Carlos  Wilcox. 

One  thing  is  a  source  of  unspeakable  comfort  to 
God's  people  in  all  their  tribulation.  It  is  that  God 
will  in  fact  never  leave  them,  nor  forsake  them.  Their 
wants  shall  be  all  supplied.  That  great  witness  for 
Christ,  Cyprian,  says  :  "  Indeed  it  is  impossible  that  a 
good  man  should  be  in  want  of  his  daily  bread.  It  is 
expressly  promised,  '  the  Lord  will  not  suffer  the  soul 
of  the  righteous  to  famish.'  And  again  it  is  written  : 
4 1  have  been  young,  and  now  am  old  ;  yet  have  I  not 
seen  the  righteous  forsaken,  nor  his  seed  begging 
bread.'  And  our  Lord  has  thus  encouraged  our  de- 
pendence upon  him  in  the  following  words  :  '  Take  no 
thought,  saying,  What  shall  we  eat  ?  or,  what  shall  we 
drink  ?  or  wherewithal  shall  we  be  clothed  ?  (for  after 
all  these  things  do  the  gentiles  seek)  for  your  Heavenly 
Father  knoweth  that  ye  have  need  of  all  these  things. 


316  AFFLICTIONS  OF  THE   RIGHTEOUS. 

But  seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  right- 
eousness, and  all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto 
you.'  We  see  that  he  promises  that  every  thing  else 
of  this  kind  and  nature  shall  be  added  to  those,  who 
seek  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness.  For 
since  all  things  are  God's,  he  who  hath  God  will  have 
all  things  with  him,  if  he  on  his  part  be  not  wanting 
in  his  duty  to  God."  Whatever  will  be  to  our  advan- 
tage, if  we  shall  act  virtuously,  is  not  only  just  but 
benevolent.  And  if  any  thing  more  be  wanting  here 
it  is :  "  Many  are  the  afflictions  of  the  righteous :  but 
the  Lord  deliver eth  him  out  of  them  all."  Psa.  xxxiv.  19. 


CHAPTER    XXXVII, 


THE   RIGHTEOUS    SHALL    HOLD    ON   HIS   WAY. 

The  regenerate  have  many  fears.  They  know  the 
power,  cunning,  and  malice  of  their  enemies  to  be 
great.  They  are  also  conscious  of  much  weakness  and 
corruption.  In  themselves  they  have  no  might.  So 
far  as  fears  lead  men  to  watch  and  pray  in  faith  and 
hope,  they  are  useful.  But  where  they  beget  discour- 
agement, or  diminish  confidence  in  God,  they  are  sinful 
and  mischievous.  One  apprehension  of  the  pious  is 
that  sin  may  regain  its  dominion  over  them,  and  at  last 
all  their  hopes  of  heaven  be  disappointed.  They  often 
have  great  fears  about  their  final  acceptance.  Even 
when  they  cannot  deny  that  God  has  done  great  things 
for  them,  they  sometimes  fear  that  yet  there  may  be 
some  deception  in  their  case,  and  so  all  their  hopes  be 
blasted.  To  such  the  truth  should  be  often  and  clearly 
presented,  that  those  who  have  been  really  born  again 
shall  neither  totally  nor  finally  fall  away  from  the 
favour  of  God  and  the  power  of  his  grace,  but  shall 
surely  hold  on  their  way  unto  death,  and  be  for  ever 
saved.  The  assurance  of  final  victory  warranted  by 
Scripture  is  not  in  any  degree  built  upon  natural 
courage,  or  firmness,  or  goodness,  or  strength  of  mind, 
or  of  resolution.  None  more  readily  than  the  friends 
of  this  doctrine  admit  that  "  because  of  the  remains 
of  indwelling  sin,  and  moreover,  also,  because  of  the 
27*  (317) 


318       TIIE  RIGHTEOUS  SHALL  HOLD  ON  HIS  WAY. 

temptations  of  the  world  and  of  Satan,  the  converted 
could  not  continue  in  a  gracious  state,  if  they  were  left 
to  their  own  strength."  Nor  is  it  denied  or  doubted 
that  truly  converted  persons  may  be  left  by  God  to  fall 
into  grievous  sins,  from  which  if  they  were  not  rescued 
by  pardoning  and  restoring  mercy,  they  could  not  be 
saved.  The  two  memorable  cases  of  David  and  Peter 
settle  this  point.  Sin  has  as  fearful  a  malignity  in  the 
case  of  a  child  of  God  as  in  that  of  the  openly  pro- 
fane. If  it  does  not  utterly  and  eternally  destroy,  it 
is  God's  grace  that  makes  the  difference  between  one 
case  and  another.  The  Scriptures  thus  provide  :  "If 
his  children  forsake  my  law,  and  walk  not  in  my  judg- 
ments ;  if  they  break  my  statutes,  and  keep  not  my 
commandments  ;  then  will  I  visit  their  transgressions 
with  the  rod,  and  their  iniquity  with  stripes.  Never- 
theless my  loving-kindness  will  I  not  utterly  take  from 
him,  nor  suffer  my  faithfulness  to  fail."  Psa.  lxxxix. 
30 — 33.  "  Though  a  good  man  fall,  he  shall  not  be 
utterly  cast  down ;  for  the  Lord  upholdeth  him  with 
his  hand."  Psa.  xxxvii.  24. 

And  yet  it  is  true  that  all  who  are  justified  shall  at 
last  be  glorified.  So  the  Scriptures  clearly  teach. 
"  The  righteous  shall  hold  on  his  way,  and  he  that  hath 
clean  hands  shall  wax  stronger  and  stronger."  Job 
xvii.  9.  "  This  God  is  our  God  for  ever  and  ever ;  he 
will  be  our  guide  even  unto  death."  Psa.  xlviii.  14. 
"Being  confident  of  this  very  thing,  that  he  which 
hath  begun  a  good  work  in  you,  will  perform  it  until 
the  day  of  Jesus  Christ."  Phil.  i.  6.  "I  give  unto 
my  sheep  eternal  life,  and  they  shall  never  perish, 
neither  shall  any  pluck  them  out  of  my  hand.  My 
Father,  which  gave  them  me,  is  greater  than  all ;  and 


THE  RIGHTEOUS  SHALL  HOLD  ON  HIS  WAY.       319 

none  is  able  to  pluck  them  out  of  my  Father's  hand." 
John  x.  28,  29.  "  Because  I  live,  ye  shall  live  also." 
John  xiv.  19.  "  Having  loved  his  own,  which  were  in 
the  world,  he  loved  them  to  the  end."  John  xiii.  1. 
"  Although  my  house  be  not  so  with  God,  yet  he  hath 
made  with  me  an  everlasting  covenant,  ordered  in  all 
things  and  sure.  For  this  is  all  my  salvation,  and  all 
my  desire."  2  Sam.  xxiii.  5.  "  The  Lord  will  perfect 
that  which  concerneth  me."  Psa.  cxxxviii.  8.  "  With 
everlasting  kindness  will  I  have  mercy  on  thee,  saith 
the  Lord  thy  Redeemer."  Isa.  liv.  8.  "  Whosoever  is 
born  of  God  doth  not  commit  sin,  for  his  seed  remain- 
eth  in  him,  and  he  cannot  sin,  because  he  is  born  of 
God."  1  John  iii.  9.  "Ye  are  kept  by  the  power  of 
God  through  faith  unto  salvation."  1  Pet.  i.  5.  "  The 
foundation  of  God  standeth  sure,  having  this  seal, 
The  Lord  knoweth  them  that  are  his."  2  Tim.  ii.  19. 
"  By  one  offering  he  hath  for  ever  perfected  them  that 
are  sanctified."  Heb.  x.  14.  See  also  John  xvii.  11, 
24 ;  Heb.  vii.  25,  and  ix.  12 — 15  ;  Luke  xxii.  32.  From 
these  and  similar  passages  of  Scripture  we  can  but 
infer  the  certainty  of  the  final  salvation  of  all  believers, 
and  we  base  the  doctrine  as  the  Scriptures  do  upon  the 
nature  of  the  covenant  of  grace,  upon  the  promised 
aid  of  God's  Spirit,  upon  the  efficacy  of  Christ's  blood, 
upon  the  prevalency  of  Christ's  intercession,  upon  the 
incorruptible  nature  of  the  divine  seed  within  us,  and 
upon  the  unchangeableness  of  God's  love  and  counsels. 
On  this  subject  there  is  a  very  powerful  and  conclu- 
sive species  of  argument  several  times  resorted  to  by 
Paul:  "If  when  we  were  enemies,  we  were  reconciled 
to  God  by  the  death  of  his  Son ;  much  more,  being  re- 
conciled, we  shall  be  saved  by  his  life."  Rom.  v.  10. 


320       THE  RIGHTEOUS  SHALL  HOLD  ON  HIS  WAY. 

Again :  "  He  that  spared  not  his  own  Son,  but  delivered 
him  up  for  us  all,  how  shall  he  not  with  him  also  freely 
give  us  all  things  ?"  Rom.  viii.  32.  The  pious  Char- 
nock  very  forcibly  presents  the  true  spirit  of  such  rea- 
soning, when  he  says  :  "  If  God  has  made  thee  (of  a 
great  sinner)  the  object  of  his  mercy,  thou  mayest  be 
assured  of  the  continuance  of  his  love.  He  pardoned 
thee  when  thou  wast  an  enemy ;  will  he  leave  thee  now 
that  thou  art  his  friend  ?  He  loved  thee  when  thou 
hadst  rased  out  in  a  great  measure  his  image  and  pic- 
ture, which  he  had  set  in  thy  soul ;  will  he  hate  thee 
now,  since  he  has  restored  that  image,  and  drawn  it 
with  fresh  colours  ?  He  justified  thee  when  thou  wast 
ungodly ;  and  will  he  cast  thee  off,  since  he  hath  been 
at  such  pains  about  thee,  and  written  in  thee  a  coun- 
terpart of  his  own  divine  nature  in  the  work  of  grace  ? 
Were  his  bowels  first  moved  when  thou  hadst  no  grace ; 
and  will  they  not  sound  louder  when  thou  hast  grace  ? 
Thou  hadst  a  rich  present  of  his  grace  sent  thee  when 
thou  couldst  not  pay  for  it ;  and  will  he  not  much  more 
give  thee  whatever  is  needful  when  thou  callest  upon 
him  V  He  was  found  of  thee  when  thou  didst  not  seek 
him ;  and  will  he  hide  himself  from  thee,  when  thou 
art  inquiring  after  him  ?  God  considered  before  he 
began  with  thee,  what  charge  thou  wouldst  stand  him 
in,  both  of  merit  in  Christ,  and  of  grace  in  thee ;  so 
that  the  grace  he  hath  given  thee  is  not  only  a  mercy 
to  thee,  but  an  obligation  on  himself,  since  his  credit 
is  engaged  to  complete  it.  Thou  hast  more  unanswer- 
able arguments  to  plead  before  him  than  thou  hadst, 
viz.,  his  Son,  his  truth,  his  promise,  his  grace,  his 
name,  wherein  before  thou  hadst  not  the  least  interest. 
To  what  purpose  hath  God  called  thee  and  washed 


THE  RIGHTEOUS  SHALL  HOLD  ON  HIS  WAY.       321 

thee,  if  he  did  not  intend  to  supply  thee  with  as  much 
grace  as  shall  bring  thee  to  glory  ?  Hath  God  given 
thee  Christ,  and  will  he  detain  [withhold]  anything 
else  ?"  God  never  begins  to  build  without  knowing 
that  he  is  able  to  finish. 

Paul's  reasoning  from  such  premises  is  of  precisely 
the  same  description.  Here  it  is  :  "  Who  shall  lay  any- 
thing to  the  charge  of  God's  elect  ?  It  is  God  that 
justifieth.  Who  is  he  that  condemneth  ?  It  is  Christ 
that  died,  yea  rather  that  is  risen  again,  who  is  ever 
at  the  right  hand  of  God,  who  also  maketh  intercession 
for  us.  Who  shall  separate  us  from  the  love  of  Christ  ? 
Shall  tribulation,  or  distress,  or  persecution,  or  famine, 
or  nakedness,  or  peril,  or  sword  ?  *  *  Nay  in  all  these 
things  we  are  more  than  conquerors,  through  him  that 
loved  us.  For  I  am  persuaded  that  neither  death,  nor 
life,  nor  angels,  nor  principalities,  nor  powers,  nor 
things  present,  nor  things  to  come,  nor  height,  nor 
depth,  nor  any  other  creature,  shall  be  able  to  separate 
us  from  the  love  of  God,  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus." 
Rom.  viii.  33—39. 

And  what  an  illustrious  display  of  almightiness  is 
here  !  "  Perhaps  it  is  a  greater  energy  of  divine  power, 
which  keeps  the  Christian  from  day  to  day,  from  year 
to  year, — praying,  hoping,  running,  believing — against 
all  hindrances — which  maintains  him  a  living  martyr — 
than  that  which  bears  him  up  for  an  hour  in  sacrificing 
himself  at  the  stake."  To  be  girded  with  omnipotence 
will  make  any  one  triumphant.  To  surround  any  man 
with  walls  of  fire  will  secure  to  the  feeblest  safety  and 
deliverance.  If  Christ  dying  could  procure  us  a  par- 
don, if  Christ  rising  could  secure  for  us  justification, 
surely  Christ  interceding  can  supply  us  with  strength, 


322       THE  RIGHTEOUS  SHALL  HOLD  ON  HIS  WAY. 

Christ  reigning  can  give  us  the  victory,  and  Christ 
sitting  in  judgment  can  and  will  give  us  a  final  and 
glorious  acquittal.  Fairer,  stronger  reasoning  can 
nowhere  be  found. 

"  He  that  hath  the  Son  hath  life,  and  he  that  hath 
not  the  Son  of  God  hath  not  life."  1  John  v.  12.  On 
this  an  old  writer  well  says  :  "If  he,  who  once  has  the 
Son,  may  cease  to  love  the  Son,  though  it  be  for  a  mo- 
ment, he  ceases  for  that  moment  to  have  life.  But  the 
life  of  them  which  have  the  Son  of  God,  is  everlasting 
in  the  world  to  come.  But  because  as  Christ  being 
raised  from  the  dead,  died  no  more,  death  hath  no  more 
power  over  him ;  so  justified  man  being  allied  to  God 
in  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  doth  as  necessarily  from  that 
time  forward  always  live,  as  Christ,  by  whom  he  hath 
life,  liveth  always."  The  same  writer  says:  "The 
faith  of  God's  people,  when  it  is  at  the  strongest,  is 
but  weak  ;  yet  even  then,  when  at  the  weakest,  it  is  so 
strong,  that  utterly  it  never  faileth,  it  never  perisheth 
altogether,  no  not  in  them  who  think  it  extinguished 
in  themselves."  Some  persons,  who  make  a  great  show 
of  zeal  for  old  English  divines,  will  turn  away  from 
such  doctrine,  although  these  are  the  very  words  of 
Richard  Hooker.  Indeed  he  uses  if  possible  still 
stronger  language  :  "  *  I  know  whom  I  have  believed.' 
I  am  not  ignorant  whose  precious  blood  has  been  shed 
for  me.  I  have  a  Shepherd  full  of  kindness,  full  of 
love,  and  full  of  power :  unto  him  I  commit  myself. 
His  own  finger  hath  engraven  this  sentence  on  the 
tables  of  my  heart :  '  Satan  hath  desired  to  winnow 
thee  as  wheat,  but  I  have  prayed  that  thy  faith  fail 
not.'  Therefore  the  assurance  of  my  hope  I  will  labour 
to  keep  as  a  jewel  unto  the  end,  and  by  labour,  through 


THE  RIGHTEOUS  SHALL  HOLD  ON  HIS  WAT.       323 

the  gracious  mediation  of  his  prayer,  I  shall  keep  it." 
Dr.  Scott,  in  his  Force  of  Truth,  having  quoted  this 
paragraph,  says  :  "  With  such  words  in  my  mouth,  and 
such  assurance  in  my  heart,  I  wish  to  live,  and  hope 
to  die." 

Such  has  long  been  the  doctrine  of  the  church  of 
God,  excepting  only  the  Remonstrants  of  the  Low 
Countries  and  their  followers  in  this  and  other  lands. 
The  Synod  of  Dort  records  the  historical  verity  con- 
cerning this  doctrine,  in  saying  :  "  The  spouse  of  Christ 
hath  always  most  tenderly  loved  it,  as  a  treasure  of 
inestimable  value,  and  hath  constantly  defended  it, 
which  indeed  that  she  may  still  do,  God  will  provide." 
Again  :  "  The  Synod  judges  these  doctrines  to  be  agree- 
able to  the  Confessions  of  the  Reformed  Churches." 

Some  object  to  the  doctrine  :  1.  That  numerous  per- 
sons make  a  great  show  of  piety,  and  by  and  by  fall 
quite  away.  This  is  true ;  but  John  (1  John  ii.  19) 
explains  their  conduct  :  "  They  went  out  from  us,  but 
they  were  not  of  us ;  for  if  they  had  been  of  us,  they 
would  no  doubt  have  continued  with  us  :  but  they  went 
out,  that  they  might  be  made  manifest  that  they  were 
not  all  of  us." 

2.  Some  object  that  such  doctrine  renders  means 
unnecessary.  But  no  church  so  holds  the  doctrine. 
The  Synod  of  Dort  says  that  "  by  hearing,  reading, 
meditation,  by  exhortations,  threatenings,  promises, 
and  moreover  by  the  use  of  the  sacraments,  God  pre 
serves,  continues  and  perfects  his  work  in  us." 

3.  There  is  therefore  no  force  in  the  objection  that 
this  doctrine  teaches  that  every  converted  man  will  be 
saved,  let  him  live  never  so  icicked  a  life.  For  the  doc- 
trine is  that  a  holy  heart  will  produce  a  holy  life,  and 


324       THE  RIGHTEOUS  SHALL  HOLD  ON  HIS  WAY. 

that  God's  grace  will  maintain  within  us  the  love  of 
holiness,  and  recover  us  if  we  fall.  "  I  will  make  an 
everlasting  covenant  with  them,  that  I  will  not  turn 
away  from  them,  to  do  them  good  ;  but  I  will  put  my 
fear  in  their  hearts,  that  they  shall  not  depart  from 
me."  Jer.  xxxii.  40. 

Therefore  let  us  lay  fast  hold  of  God's  covenant,  and 
plead  with  him  for  full  salvation  and  final  victory. 
Prayer  is  a  necessary  means  of  being  preserved  unto 
life  eternal.  Therefore  cry :  Keep  me  as  the  apple 
of  thine  eye ;  hide  me  under  the  the  shadow  of  thy 
wings.  Keep  me  from  the  snare  laid  for  me.  Keep 
me  from  the  hour  of  temptation.  Hold  thou  me  up, 
and  I  shall  be  safe.  Preserve  thou  my  soul,  0  my  God ; 
save  thy  servant  that  trusteth  in  thee.  Make  me  meet 
to  be  a  partaker  of  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in 
light.  And  in  all  the  trials  of  life  be  courageous.  Re- 
member who  hath  said,  "  I  will  never  leave  thee,  nor 
forsake  thee."  If  you  are  a  sinner,  you  are  not  a 
greater  one  than  he  who  said,  "  The  Lord  shall  deliver 
me  from  every  evil  work,  and  will  preserve  me  unto  his 
heavenly  kingdom." 

Well  did  Jude  know  what  he  was  saying,  when  he 
closed  his  epistle  with  that  triumphant  doxology : 
"  Now  unto  him  that  is  able  to  keep  you  from  falling, 
and  to  present  you  faultless  before  the  presence  of  his 
glory  with  exceeding  joy ;  to  the  only  wise  God  our 
Saviour,  be  glory  and  majesty,  dominion  and  power, 
both  now  and  ever.    Amen." 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 


THE   ABBREVIATION    OF   HUMAN   LIFE. 

The  New  York  Observer  of  the  6th  of  March,  1851, 
contained  obituary  notices  of  ten  persons,  the  aggre- 
gate of  whose  ages  was  more  than  eight  hundred  and 
eighty-jive  years.  The  youngest  of  the  ten  was  seventy- 
nine  years  old.  The  average  of  their  ages  was  over 
eighty-eight  years.  The  aggregate  number  of  years 
attained  by  them,  over  threescore  and  ten,  was  one 
hundred  and  eighty-five,  being  an  average  of  eighteen 
years  and  a  half  over  the  time  usually  allotted  to  man. 
Of  these  persons  seven  were  males,  and  three  females. 
The  habits  of  all  are  not  particularly  stated,  but  so 
far  as  they  are  noticed,  they  seem  to  have  been  simple 
and  temperate. 

In  reflecting  on  such  a  record,  one  of  our  first 
thoughts  is,  How  long  they  lived !  Both  the  average 
and  the  aggregate  of  their  lives  surprise  us.  Such  a 
record  shows  that  in  the  divine  plan  respecting  human 
life  there  has  been  no  considerable  change  since  the 
days  of  Moses.  The  minimum  of  human  life  will  pro- 
bably not  be  lower  till  the  end  of  the  world.  And  as 
these  ten  persons  are  confessedly  rare  exceptions  to  the 
usual  course  of  things,  we  have  no  reason  to  suppose 
that  the  maximum  of  human  life  will  hereafter  be 
greater  than  it  is  at  present.  The  increased  virtue  of 
mankind  would  no  doubt  considerably  raise  the  average 
IS  ( 325  ) 


326  THE  ABBREVIATION  OF  HUMAN  LIFE. 

of  human  life,  but  the  maximum  will  not  materially 
vary  in  future  ages. 

But  when  we  compare  the  present  with  the  first 
ages  of  the  world,  our  thoughts  take  quite  a  different 
turn.  Adam  lived  nine  hundred  and  thirty,  or  nearly 
forty-jive  years  longer  than  all  the  ten,  of  whom  no- 
tice has  been  taken.  Seth  lived  nine  hundred  and 
twelve  years,  Enos  nine  hundred  and  jive,  Canaan  nine 
hundred  and  ten,  Mahaleel  eight  hundred  and  ninety- 
jive,  Jared  nine  hundred  and  sixty-two,  Enoch  three 
hundred  and  sixty-jive,  Methuselah  nine  hundred  and 
sixty-nine,  Lamech  seven  hundred  and  seventy-seven, 
and  Noah  nine  hundred  and  fifty  years.  The  aggre- 
gate of  the  ages  of  these  ten  men  was  eight  thousand 
five  hundred  and  seventy-five  years.  Had  Enoch  not 
been  translated  till  he  was  as  old  as  the  youngest  of 
the  other  nine,  the  aggregate  of  the  ages  of  these  ten 
antediluvians  would  have  been  more  than  ten  times  as 
great  as  that  of  the  ten  first  mentioned.  Compared 
with  the  life  of  man  before  the  flood,  how  short  are 
our  days !  If  any  ask  the  reason  of  this  change,  let 
them  know  that  it  is  the  sovereign  will  of  God,  who 
holds  all  second  causes  and  all  human  affairs  under 
his  control.  To  infer  from  this  difference  in  human 
life  that  we  and  the  men  before  the  flood  belong  not 
to  the  same  race,  is  as  illogical  as  to  argue  that  a  child 
dying  a  year  old  is  not  of  the  same  race  with  its  pa- 
rents, who  live  half  a  century.  The  whale  is  said  to 
live  a  thousand  years,  the  elephant  four  hundred,  the 
swan  two  hundred,  the  terrapin  one  hundred  and  fifty, 
the  eagle  one  hundred,  and  the  ass  eighty.  But  hu- 
man life  is  still  shorter.  Man  has  more  enemies, 
dangers  stand  thicker  around  him.  Seventy  years 
only  are  appointed  to  him. 


THE  ABBREVIATION  OF  HUMAN  LIFE.  327 

Let  us  not  repine  at  this  state  of  things.  As  this 
world  ever  since  the  fall  of  Adam  has  been  under  the 
mediatorial  government  of  Jesus  Christ,  whatever  has 
been  done  to  the  race  has  been  merciful.  The  abbre- 
viation of  human  life  was  unquestionably  a  kindness  to 
the  world.  When  men  lived  nearly  a  thousand  years, 
human  wickedness  became  intolerable.  Except  when 
renewed  by  God's  grace,  human  nature  is  the  same  in 
all  ages ;  and  if  the  wicked  lived  nine  hundred  years, 
earth  would  again  be  like  hell.  Even  now  we  find 
blasphemers  and  murderers  in  their  'teens.  Men  are 
often  deeply  practised  in  crime,  and  fearfully  hardened 
in  atheism  before  they  have  lived  out  half  their  days. 
Men  have  committed  more  murders  than  they  were 
years  old.  If  men  should  live  as  long  as  the  patri- 
archs before  the  flood,  and  wickedness  should  grow,  as 
it  now  does,  personal  hostilities  would  be  dreadful,  and 
family  feuds  and  national  quarrels  would  find  no  ter- 
mination. How  could  the  world  endure  for  seven  or 
eight  centuries  the  tread  of  a  Claverhouse,  a  Jeffreys, 
a  Duke  of  Alva,  an  Alaric,  a  Nero,  or  an  Alexander  ? 
In  one  century  the  scholars  of  vice  would  acquire  such 
proficiency  as  to  make  their  names  terrible.  Though 
life  is  short,  it  is  long  enough  to  answer  all  the  highest 
ends  of  existence.  All  adult  persons  have  more  time 
than  they  profitably  employ.  Those,  who  waste  their 
lives  in  vanity  and  wickedness,  have  no  right  to  com- 
plain of  the  brevity  of  their  existence.  From  him, 
who  misuses  what  is  given  him,  may  justly  be  withheld 
all  further  bounties.  And  the  righteous  "would  not 
live  alway."  They  seek  a  better  country,  even  a  hea- 
venly. They  have  a  desire  to  depart  and  be  with 
Christ,  which  is  far  better  than  any  earthly  inheritance. 


328  THE  ABBREVIATION  OF  HUMAN  LIFE. 

God  often  takes  first  those  whom  he  loves  best.  Abel 
left  the  world,  it  is  thought,  at  the  age  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty  years,  while  his  fratricidal  brother  lived 
through  centuries  of  guilt  and  remorse.  Enoch  seems 
to  have  been  the  most  pious  of  the  ten  mentioned  in 
Genesis  v.,  yet  he  did  not  remain  on  earth  half  so  long 
as  the  shortest  lived  of  the  other  nine.  "Were  the 
world  less  miserable,  it  would  be  no  loss  to  die  and  go 
to  heaven  ;  nor  can  it  ever  be  gain  to  live  and  treasure 
up  wrath  by  sin." 

Still  unless  we  can  lay  hold  on  the  higher  truths  of 
religion,  it  is  painful  to  dwell  on  the  brevity  of  our 
earthly  existence.  Of  all  persons  born  into  the  world, 
one-third  do  not  live  two  years,  and  one  half  do  not 
see  seven  years.  Of  the  residue,  more  than  half  die 
before  they  are  forty-five  years  old.  But  here  and 
there  one  lives  to  be  old.  The  habitable  earth  and  the 
sea  also  have  become  vast  grave-yards. 

If  life  be  so  short  let  us  defer  no  duty.  Let  there 
be  a  time  for  everything,  and  everything  in  its  time. 
In  Christian  countries  most  men  fail  by  wicked  delays. 
Around  that  rock  lie  the  bleached  bones  of  myriads, 
who  intended  to  live  to  God,  but  never  did.  Inch  by 
inch  their  lives  were  stolen  from  them,  and  at  the  end 
all  they  could  say  was,  "  The  harvest  is  past,  the  sum- 
mer is  ended,  and  we  are  not  saved."  A  disposition 
to  put  oif  preparation  for  death  would  be  greatly 
strengthened  by  a  knowledge  that  we  had  centuries 
before  us.  From  Gen.  v.  12,  22,  some  infer  that 
Enoch  was  not  truly  pious,  or  at  least  not  eminently 
so  till  he  was  sixty-five  years  old.  However  this  may 
be  we  all  know  the  strong  propensity  in  men  to  say, 
"  There  is  time  enough  yet."     Beware  of  this  danger- 


THE  ABBREVIATION  OF  HUMAN  LIFE.  329 

ous  practice.     The  next  hour  may  usher  any  one  of  us 
into  eternity. 

Nor  is  an  early  death  an  evil  to  him  who  is  pre- 
pared. He  thereby  escapes  much  suffering.  He  is 
taken  away  from  the  evil  to  come.  Tacitus,  in  his  life 
of  Agricola,  seems  pleased  that  he  did  not  live  to 
see  the  Senate  intimidated  by  soldiers,  courts  of  law 
shut  up,  and  rapine  and  slaughter  prevalent.  "  0 
Agricola,  thou  art  happy,  not  only  by  the  excellence 
of  thy  life,  but  by  thy  opportune  death!"  Agricola 
died  at  the  age  of  fifty-six  years.  If  a  heathen  could 
comfort  himself  for  the  death  of  so  honoured  a  father- 
in-law  by  such  a  consideration,  how  much  more  may 
we  be  cheered  by  knowing  that  our  departed  pious 
friends  no  more  see,  or  hear,  or  feel  those  things,  which 
were  they  alive,  must  vex  their  righteous  souls  from 
day  to  day.  Let  us  not  be  over  anxious  for  long  life. 
The  failure  of  hope,  the  decline  of  usefulness,  the 
neglect  of  juniors,  the  memory  of  past  joys,  the  pre- 
sence of  many  pains  and  infirmities  burden  nearly  all 
the  very  aged.  Their  senses  are  blunted,  their 
strength  is  not  firm,  their  fears  have  the  ascendency, 
the  almond-tree  flourishes,  the  grasshopper  is  a  bur- 
den, and  desire  fails. 

Our  advancing  years  bring  increased  responsibility. 
He,  who  has  lived  thirty-five  years  has  had  five  full 
years  of  Sabbaths.  He,  who  is  seventy  years  old, 
has  had  ten  solid  years  of  holy  time.  Frequent  in- 
terviews with  distressed  souls  and  dying  people  have 
painfully  impressed  the  writer's  mind  that  there  are  two 
sins  which  have  a  fearful  burden  and  sting  in  them. 
The  first  is  the  slighting  of  gospel  grace  and  mercy. 
The  other  is  the  neglect  or  abuse  of  holy  time.  Most 
28* 


330  THE  ABBREVIATION  OF  HUMAN  LIFE. 

dying  sinners  seem  to  desire  longer  time  only  that  they 
may  spend  it  as  they  should  have  done  their  holy 
Sabbaths. 

Let  us  not  waste  our  time  in  idle  regrets  on  the 
shortness  of  life,  but  let  us  work  while  it  is  day." 
"  The  night  cometh  when  no  man  can  work."  "It 
is  good  to  be  zealously  affected  always  in  a  good  thing." 
Let  us  do  even  a  little  at  a  time.  Despise  not  the  day 
of  small  things.  "It  is  not  great  talents  God  blesses, 
so  much  as  great  likeness  to  Jesus."  Holiness  is  a 
greater  means  of  usefulness  than  extraordinary  natural 
gifts,  or  vast  learning.  "  A  heated  iron,  though  blunt, 
will  pierce  its  way  even  where  a  much  sharper  instru- 
ment, if  it  be  cold,  cannot  penetrate."  One  of  the 
best  models  of  zeal  among  fallible  men  is  found  in  Ne- 
hemiah.  A  perfect  pattern  was  Jesus  Christ.  The 
zeal  of  God's  house  consumed  him. 

Live  and  labour  to  be  not  only  real  but  eminent 
Christians.  Let  us  not  sleep  as  do  others.  Heaven 
or  hell  will  soon  receive  all  that  now  live.  Let  your 
standard  be  the  word  of  God  and  the  example  of 
Christ.  Forget  past  attainments,  and  reach  after 
greater  things.  Live  as  seeing  Him,  who  is  invisible. 
Never  count  that  you  have  attained  till  you  have  got 
your  crown.  "  He,  who  is  contented  with  just  enough 
grace  to  escape  hell  and  get  to  heaven,  and  desires  no 
more,  may  be  sure  he  has  none  at  all,  and  is  far  from 
the  kingdom  of  God."  Be  not  conformed  to  this 
world,  but  be  transformed  by  the  renewing  of  your 
mind.     Fight  the  good  fight  of  faith. 

One  reason,  why  some  have  so  great  a  dread  of  the 
close  of  life,  is  that  it  is  so  rarely  a  theme  of  medita- 
tion.    Men,  who  will   not   think,  cannot  understand. 


THE  ABBREVIATION  OF  HUMAN  LIFE.  331 

Mere  thoughts  of  dying  will  make  no  one  holy,  but 
they  have  often  led  men  to  seek  salvation.  I  have  read 
of  a  man,  whose  conversion  was  traced  to  those  words 
so  often  repeated  in  Gen.  v.  "And  he  died."  Live  as 
you  may,  it  will  soon  be  said  of  you,  "  and  he  died." 
Are  you  ready  for  death  ? 

The  grace  of  Christ  is  necessary  to  enable  us  to 
live  well  and  to  die  well.  His  death  was  the  death  of 
death,  because  it  was  the  death  of  sin.  We  may  con- 
fidently plead  with  the  Saviour  for  all  needed  help. 
He  can  make  goodness  and  mercy  follow  us  when  liv- 
ing; and  glory  and  honour  meet  us  when  dying.  His 
grace  can  moderate  our  love  of  life,  and  take  away 
our  fear  of  death.  He  can  teach  us  that  this  is  not 
our  rest.  He  can  make  us  willing  to  be  chastened  of 
the  Lord,  that  we  may  not  be  condemned  with  the 
world.  He  can  do  for  us  exceeding  abundantly  above 
all  we  can  ask  or  think.  He  is  the  good  Shepherd. 
In  him  we  may  safely  trust  and  for  ever  rejoice.  If 
this  life  is  short,  Christ's  people  shall  the  sooner  be 
with  him. 


CHAPTER    XXXIX. 


THE  BELIEVER'S  VICTORY  OVER  DEATH. — THE  MARTYRS. 

As  we  can  die  but  once,  we  should  seek  to  die  well. 
The  honours  which  Christ  and  his  gospel  have  won  from 
the  field  of  the  last  battle  of  the  saints,  have  been  vast, 
peculiar,  and  effective  of  much  good.  To  glorify  God 
in  death  is  both  a  duty  and  a  privilege.  For  this  end 
wTe  should  labour  and  pray  at  all  times.  A  happy  death 
is  a  noble  end  of  a  well  spent  life.  It  crowns  a  con- 
sistent profession  of  piety  with  appropriate  honours. 
It  proves  that  God  is  still  faithful.  It  evinces  the  ten- 
derness of  Christ  to  his  chosen.  It  soothes  the  bitter 
anguish  of  loved  and  loving  survivors.  In  itself  and 
for  the  manifold  blessings  which  follow  in  its  train,  it 
is  every  way  desirable. 

And  yet  how  depressing  to  the  spirits  of  many  devout 
servants  of  God  is  the  thought  of  lying  down  in  the 
grave.  That  house  is  so  narrow,  so  damp,  and  so  dark, 
that  they  shrink  from  entering  it.  We  naturally  love 
and  cherish  our  own  bodies,  and  dread  the  pains  of  dis- 
solution. Yet  believers  need  not  be  dismayed  at  the 
prospect  of  exchanging  worlds.  Death  is  indeed  our 
greatest,  but  he  is  our  last  enemy.  He  is  the  king  of 
terrors  and  the  terror  of  kings  ;  but  it  is,  and  was,  and 
ever  shall  be  true,  that 

"  The  chamber  where  the  good  man  meets  his  fate, 
Is  privileged  beyond  the  common  walks 
Of  life — quite  on  the  verge  of  heaven." 
(332) 


THE  BELIEVER'S  VICTORY  OVER  DEATH.    333 

The  wicked  still  have  cause  to  say,  "  Let  me  die  the 
death  of  the  righteous,  and  let  my  last  end  be  like  his." 
Inspiration  still  cries :  "  Mark  the  perfect  man,  and 
behold  the  upright,  for  the  end  of  that  man  is  peace." 
The  timid  and  desponding  should  lay  fast  hold  of  all 
the  encouragements  of  God's  word  on  this  whole  sub- 
ject. In  it  we  learn  that  "  there  remaineth  a  rest  to 
the  people  of  God."  Heb.  iv.  9.  Jesus  Christ  himself 
said :  "In  my  Father's  house  are  many  mansions  :  if  it 
were  not  so,  I  would  have  told  you.  I  go  to  prepare  a 
place  for  you.  And  if  I  go  and  prepare  a  place  for 
you,  I  will  come  again  and  receive  you  unto  myself, 
that  where  I  am  there  ye  may  be  also."  God's  word 
abounds  in  strong  consolations  on  this  subject.  Trea- 
sure them  up.  "  Though  death  is  the  enemy  of  nature, 
it  is  the  friend  of  grace."  "  Death  is  the  day-break 
of  eternity."  Let  us  not  foster  our  natural  dread  of 
pain.  Sufficient  unto  the  day  is  the  evil  thereof.  .  Many 
die  with  very  little  bodily  suffering.  When  our  sys- 
tems can  bear  no  more,  they  will  sink  in  death,  and  so 
we  shall  be  at  rest. 

Dissolution  and  corruption  are  painful  subjects,  but 
our  blessed  Lord  has  hallowed  the  tomb  with  his  own 
sacred  body.  Let  us  follow  him  even  into  the  grave. 
Besides,  he  has  taken  away  the  sting  of  death,  which 
is  the  guilt  of  sin,  and  so  has  for  ever  disarmed  that 
enemy.  Let  no  one  afflict  himself  with  needless  fears 
of  coming  short  of  eternal  life,  simply  because  the  pros- 
pect of  death  is  not  always  pleasant.  "  Even  a  strong 
believer  may  be  afraid  to  die.  We  are  not  in  general 
fond  of  handling  a  serpent,  or  a  viper,  though  his  sting 
is  drawn  and  we  know  it  to  be  so."  It  powerfully  tends 
to  preserve  human  life  and  to  prevent  acts  of  self- 


334       the  believer's  victory  over  death. 

destruction,  and  so  is  a  great  mercy  to  our  race,  that 
men  should  have  a  natural  dread  of  death.  Nor  is  this 
commonly  taken  quite  away  until  God  is  about  to  set 
his  chosen  free  from  the  bondage  of  the  flesh.  That  is 
soon  enough  for  all  the  best  ends  of  the  covenant  of 
grace.  Many  have  confirmed  the  testimony  of  Dr.  Gill, 
who  says  :  "  Though  a  believer  may  have  his  darkness, 
doubts,  and  fears,  and  many  conflicts  of  soul,  while  on 
his  dying  bed ;  yet  usually  these  are  all  over  and  gone 
before  his  last  moments  come,  and  death  does  its  office 
and  work  upon  him.  From  the  precious  promises  of 
God  to  be  with  his  people,  even  until  death ;  from  the 
scriptural  account  of  dying  saints ;  and  from  the  ob- 
servations I  have  made  during  the  course  of  my  life,  I 
am  of  opinion  that,  generally  speaking,  the  people  of 
God  die  comfortably  ;  their  spiritual  enemies  being 
made  to  be  as  still  as  a  stone,  while  they  pass  through 
Jordan,  or  the  stream  of  death."  The  prevailing  senti- 
ment of  every  Christian  community  is,  that  in  death 
Christ  shows  great  grace  to  his  elect,  and  fulfils  the 
promise,  "As  thy  days,  so  shall  thy  strength  be." 
Every  child  of  God  may  embrace  this  good  word,  and 
pray  like  him  who  said  :  "Lord,  I  am  called  to  work  I 
never  did  :  Oh,  give  me  grace  I  never  had."  If  men 
would  more  frequently  visit  the  beds  of  dying  Chris- 
tians, they  would  better  know  the  amazing  mercy  of 
Christ  to  departing  saints.  It  is  truly  wonderful,  and 
surpasses  the  love  of  women.  And  here  it  gives  me 
great  pleasure  in  a  public  and  solemn  manner  to  record 
my  testimony  for  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  comfort  of 
all  his  people,  who  may  peruse  these  pages.  It  is  this: 
that  the  tenderness  of  Christ  to  his  sick  and  dying 
servants  is  great,  and  that  in  the  hour  of  their  last 


THE  BELIEVER'S  VICTORY  OVER  DEATH.    335 

trial,  he  does  not  leave  them,  nor  forsake  them.  For 
a  long  time  I  have  visited,  as  I  had  opportunity,  the 
sick  and  suffering  people  of  God,  without  regard  to  age, 
sex,  rank,  complexion,  or  denomination.  The  result  is 
that  I  have  never  known  one  who  had  made  so  credible 
a  profession  of  love  to  Christ,  as  to  secure  the  general 
confidence  of  Christians  of  the  vicinage,  left  to  die  an 
undesirable  death.  Some  endured  great  bodily  pain, 
but  God  was  with  them.  Some  left  the  world  in  a  state 
of  unconsciousness,  but  their  last  moments  of  ration- 
ality were  cheered  by  blessed  rays  of  light  from  heaven. 
Early  in  their  sickness  some  were  sorely  tempted,  but 
the  victory  came  at  last.  Some  had  been  subject  to 
mental  derangement,  but  they  were  permitted  to  enter 
eternity  without  a  cloud  over  their  reason.  Yet  had 
they  died  maniacs,  the  promises  would  not  have  failed. 
Some  were  young  in  years,  and  in  Christian  expe- 
rience ;  but  the  good  Shepherd  gathered  them  like 
lambs  in  his  arms,  and  carried  them  in  his  bosom. 
Some  were  in  middle  life,  and  left  helpless  children 
behind  them ;  but  I  have  seen  the  dying  mother  kiss 
her  little  babe,  and  bid  the  world  farewell  with  entire 
composure.  The  peace  of  God  ruled  her  heart  by 
Jesus  Christ.  Some  were  old,  nervous,  and,  on  other 
subjects,  full  of  fancies  ;  but  Christ,  the  Rock,  followed 
them  to  Canaan.  What  God  has  done  for  his  people 
in  days  past,  should  encourage  those  who  live  at  the 
present  time.  God's  faithfulness  to  the  departed  should 
invigorate  the  faith  and  expel  the  fears  of  the  waiting. 
God's  people  have  left  the  world  in  various  ways.  Some 
have  died  violent  and  ignominious  deaths,  and  some 
have  died  in  their  beds.  Some  have  had  long  notice, 
and  others  hardly  any.     Some  have  died  old,  some  in 


33G       the  believer's  victory  over  death. 

the  midst  of  their  days,  and  some  in  the  morning  of 
existence,  yet  they  have  commonly  agreed  in  leaving 
an  animating  testimony  to  the  power  of  Christ's  grace 
to  their  departing  spirits.  The  great  advantages  of 
good  examples  are  that  they  express  with  clearness  the 
duty  to  be  done,  that  they  show  the  possibility  of  doing 
it,  and  that  they  incite  us  to  imitation.  These  advan- 
tages are  fully  realized  in  the  examples  of  dying  saints. 
The  following  sayings  of  God's  people  have  been  col- 
lected in  the  hope  that  they  may  encourage  the  faint, 
embolden  the  timid,  confirm  the  strong,  and  animate 
all  classes  of  real  Christians.  Most  of  them  were 
uttered  in  a  dying  hour,  and  many  of  them  were  last 
words.  Let  us  begin  with  the  sayings  of  some  of  the 
martyrs. 

Stephen  said,  "  Lord  Jesus,  receive  my  spirit ;"  and 
"Lay  not  this  sin  to  their  charge." 

Paul,  the  aged  :  "  I  am  now  ready  to  be  offered,  and 
the  time  of  my  departure  is  at  hand.  I  have  fought  a 
good  fight,  I  have  finished  my  course,  I  have  kept  the 
faith ;  henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown,  which 
the  Lord,  the  righteous  Judge,  shall  give  me  at  that 
day,  and  not  to  me  only,  but  also  to  all  them  that  love 
his  appearing." 

Polycarp :  "  0  Father  of  thy  beloved  and  blessed 
Son,  Jesus  Christ !  0  God  of  all  principalities  and  of 
all  creation !  I  bless  thee  that  thou  hast  counted  me 
worthy  of  this  day,  and  this  hour,  to  receive  my  portion 
in  the  number  of  thy  martyrs,  in  the  cup  of  Christ." 
"  He  that  gave  me  strength  to  come  to  the  fire,  will 
give  me  patience  to  endure  the  flame  without  your 
tying  me." 

Ignatius :  "  I  die  willingly  for  God."    "  I  am  God's 


THE  BELIEVER'S  VICTORY  OVER  DEATH.  33T 

wheat,  and  shall  be  ground  by  the  teeth  of  the  wild 
beasts,  that  I  may  be  found  the  pure  bread  of  God." 
"  Now  I  begin  to  be  a  disciple."  "  It  is  better  for  me 
to  die  for  Jesus  Christ  than  to  reign  over  the  ends  of 
the  earth." 

Cyprian  :  "Let  him  fear  death,  who  must  pass  from 
this  to  the  second  death."  "  I  thank  God  for  freeing 
me  from  the  prison  of  this  body." 

Justin  Martyr,  with  six  other  Christians,  stood  before 
the  prefect,  who  examined  each  one,  and  then  turned 
to  Justin,  saying,  "  Hear  thou,  who  hast  the  character 
of  an  orator,  and  imaginest  thyself  in  possession  of 
truth.  If  I  scourge  thee  from  head  to  foot,  thinkest 
thou  that  thou  shalt  go  to  heaven  ?"  Justin  said  : 
"Although  I  suffer  what  you  threaten,  yet  I  expect  to 
enjoy  the  portion  of  all  Christians  ;  as  I  know  that  the 
divine  grace  and  favour  is  laid  up  for  all  such,  and  shall 
be  while  the  world  endures."  Rusticus  asked:  "Do 
you  think  that  you  shall  go  to  heaven  and  receive  a 
reward  ?"  "  I  not  only  think  so,  but  I  know  it,  and 
have  a  certainty  of  it,  which  excludes  all  doubts,"  was 
the  reply.  Here  the  prefect  insisted  that  they  should 
all  sacrifice  to  the  gods.  "No  man,"  said  Justin, 
"will  desert  true  religion  for  the  sake  of  error  and 
impiety."  Urbicus  said:  "Unless  you  comply,  you 
shall  be  tormented  without  mercy."  Justin  replied : 
"  We  desire  nothing  more  sincerely  than  to  endure 
tortures  for  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  be  saved. 
Hence  our  happiness  is  promoted,  and  we  shall  have 
confidence  before  the  awful  tribunal  of  our  Lord  and 
Saviour,  before  which  by  divine  appointment  the  whole 
world  must  appear."  The  others  assented,  and  said  : 
"  Despatch  quickly  your  purpose  ;  we  are  Christians, 
29 


338        THE  believer's  victory  over  death. 

and  cannot  sacrifice  to  idols."  The  sentence  was,  that 
they  should  be  scourged,  and  then  beheaded.  They 
heard  it  with  joy,  and  bore  the  scourging  without  a 
murmur,  nay  with  ecstacy.  They  were  then  beheaded, 
and  their  bodies  were  decently  interred  by  their 
friends. 

John  Huss  :  "  In  these  flames,  I  offer  to  thee,  0 
Christ,  this  soul  of  mine." 

Jerome  of  Prague  :  "  Kindle  not  the  fire  behind  me, 
but  before  my  face ;  for  if  I  had  been  afraid  of  it,  I 
had  not  come  to  this  place,  having  had  so  many  oppor- 
tunities offered  me  to  escape." 

When  Mrs.  Jane  Askew  was  offered  her  life  at  the 
stake,  if  she  would  recant,  she  said :  "  I  came  not 
hither  to  deny  my  Lord  and  Master." 

Mrs.  Joyce  Lewis  said :  "  As  for  death,  I  fear  it  not; 
for,  when  I  behold  the  amiable  countenance  of  Jesus 
Christ,  my  dear  Saviour,  the  ugly  face  of  death  doth 
not  much  trouble  me." 

John  Nisbet,  the  younger :  "  Now,  farewell  all  true 
friends  in  Christ ;  farewell  Christian  relations  ;  fare- 
well sweet  and  holy  Scriptures  ;  farewell  prayer  and 
meditation ;  farewell  sinning  and  suffering.  Welcome 
heaven  ;  welcome  innumerable  company  of  angels,  and 
the  church  of  the  first-born,  and  the  spirits  of  just  men 
made  perfect ;  welcome  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost; 
welcome  praises  for  evermore.  Now,  dear  Father, 
receive  my  spirit,  for  it  is  thine ;  even  so,  come  Lord 
Jesus." 

Donald  Cargill :  "This  is  the  most  joyful  day  that 
ever  I  saw  in  my  pilgrimage  on  earth.  My  joy  is  now 
begun,  which  I  see  shall  never  be  interrupted.  I  see 
both  my  interest  and  His  truth,  and  the  sureness  of  the 


THE  BELIEVER'S  VICTORY  OVER  DEATH.  339 

one,  and  the  preciousness  of  the  other.  *  *  I  have 
been  a  man  of  great  sins,  but  he  has  been  a  God  of 
great  mercies.  And  now,  through  his  mercies  I  have 
a  conscience  as  sound  and  quiet,  as  if  I  had  never 
sinned.  It  is  long  since  I  could  have  adventured  on 
eternity,  through  God's  mercy  and  Christ's  merits,  and 
now  death  is  no  more  to  me,  but  to  cast  myself  into 
my  Husband's  arms,  and  to  lie  down  with  him." 

Indeed  so  wonderfully  has  God  been  with  the  faith- 
ful martyrs  in  all  ages,  making  them  joyful  in  all  their 
tribulation,  that  the  effect  has  been  truly  astonishing. 
In  the  early  ages  it  was  often  said,  "  The  blood  of  the 
martyrs  is  the  seed  of  the  church."  It  is  stated  that 
at  the  close  of  the  martyrdom  of  one  young  woman  in 
Rome,  five  hundred  persons  were  induced  to  offer  them- 
selves as  victims  to  the  rage  of  the  persecutors.  Similar 
effects  have  been  noticed  in  modern  times.  Archbishop 
Tillotson  says,  he  thinks  it  a  true  observation,  "that 
catechizing  and  the  history  of  the  martyrs  have  been 
the  two  main  pillars  of  the  Protestant  religion." 


CHAPTER  XL. 

SAME   SUBJECT. — OTHER   EXAMPLES,   ANCIENT  AND 
MODERN. 

Some  have  feared  that  if  there  was  nothing  pecu- 
liarly trying  in  the  form  of  their  death,  they  should 
not  have  special  assistance  in  their  last  moments.  But 
the  history  of  God's  people  shows  how  kind  he  has 
ever  been  to  them  in  the  final  conflict.  Here  are  a 
few  out  of  thousands  of  cases,  which  might  be  cited. 

When  leaving  the  world  Joseph  said :  "  I  die,  and 
God  shall  surely  visit  you,  and  bring  you  out  of  this 
land." 

Joshua  :  "  Behold,  this  day  I  am  going  the  way  of 
all  the  earth,  and  you  know  in  all  your  hearts  and  in 
all  your  souls,  that  not  one  thing  hath  failed  of  all  the 
good  things  which  the  Lord  your  God  spake  concern- 
ing you." 

Simeon :  "  Lord,  now  lettest  thou  thy  servant  de- 
part in  peace,  according  to  thy  word,  for  mine  eyes 
have  seen  thy  salvation." 

Chrysostom  :  "  Glory  be  to  God  for  all  events." 

Luther  thrice  said :  "  Into  thy  hands  I  commit  my 
spirit ;   God  of  truth,  thou  hast  redeemed  me." 

Theodore  Beza:  "Lord,  perfect  that,  which  thou 
hast  begun,  that  I  suffer  not  shipwreck  in  the  haven." 
(340) 


THE  BELIEVER'S  VICTORY  OVER  DEATH.  341 

Thomas  Holland  :  "  Come,  0  come,  Lord  Jesus, 
thou  bright  Morning  Star !  Come,  Lord  Jesus,  I  de- 
sire to  be  dissolved  and  to  be  with  thee." 

Rutherford:  "I  have  got  the  victory,  and  Christ  is 
holding  out  both  arms  to  embrace  me." 

Richard  Baxter :  "I  have  pains,  there  is  no  argu- 
ing against  sense ;  but  I  have  peace,  I  have  peace.  *  * 
Almost  well.    *    *    The  Lord  teach  you  how  to  die." 

Bunyan :  "  Weep  not  for  me  but  for  yourselves.  I 
go  to  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  no 
doubt  will  receive  me  though  a  sinner,  through  the 
mediation  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  where  I  hope  we 
shall  ere  long  meet  to  sing  the  new  song,  and  remain 
happy  for  ever,  in  a  world  without  end.     Amen." 

John  Owen :  "  The  long  wished  for  day  is  come  at 
last,  in  which  I  shall  see  the  glory  of  Christ  in  an- 
other manner,  than  I  ever  have  done,  or  was  capable 
of  doing  in  this  world." 

John  Flavel :  "  I  know  that  it  will  be  well  with 
me." 

Philip  Henry :  "  0  make  sure  work  for  your  souls, 
by  getting  an  interest  in  Christ,  while  you  are  in 
health,  for  if  I  had  that  work  to  do  now,  what  would 
become  of  me  ?  But  I  bless  God,  I  am  satisfied.  See 
to  it  that  your  work  be  not  undone,  when  your  time  is 
done,  lest  you  be  undone  for  ever." 

Matthew  Henry  :  "  This  is  my  dying  saying  :  A  life 
spent  in  the  service  of  God,  and  communion  with  him, 
is  the  most  comfortable  life  any  one  can  live  in  this 
world." 

John  Janeway  :   "  Come,  Lord  Jesus,  come  quickly." 
Richard  Hooker  :  "lam  at  peace  with  all  men,  and 
God  is  at  peace  with  me;  from  which  blessed  assur- 
29* 


342        the  believer's  victory  over  death. 

ance  I  feel  that  inward  joy,  which  the  world  can  nei- 
ther give  nor  take  away." 

Col.  J.  Blackader :  "  0  the  kindness  and  compassion 
of  God,  who  knows  our  frame,  that  we  are  dust,  and 
has  no  pleasure  in  afflicting  his  poor  creatures.  0 
may  this  [illness]  be  a  rod  to  chase  me  to  Christ ;  and 
the  fruit  of  all  to  purge  away  sin." 

Alexander  Henderson:  "I  am  near  the  end  of  my 
race,  hasting  home,  and  there  was  never  a  school- 
boy more  desirous  to  have  the  play,  than  I  am  to  have 
leave  of  this  world." 

Bishop  Hall:  "If  I  die,  the  world  will  miss  me  but 
little,  because  it  has  plenty  of  better  men ;  and  I  shall 
not  miss  it,  because  it  has  so  much  evil,  and  I  shall 
have  so  much  happiness." 

Halyburton  :  "  Though  my  body  be  sufficiently  af- 
flicted, yet  my  spirit  is  untouched.  *  *  Free  grace, 
free  grace  ;  not  unto  me." 

Rev.  Thomas  Cartwright :  "  I  have  found  unuttera- 
ble comfort  and  happiness,  and  God  has  given  me  a 
glimpse  of  heaven.  *  *  I  have  fought  the  good  fight, 
I  have  finished  my  course,  I  have  kept  the  faith.  Hence- 
forth there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  which  the  Lord, 
the  righteous  Judge,  shall  give  me  at  that  day.'' 

Hervey :  "  How  thankful  I  am  for  death  !  It  is  the 
passage  through  which  I  get  to  the  Lord  and  giver  of 
eternal  live.  These  light  afflictions  are  but  for  a  mo- 
ment, and  then  comes  an  eternal  weight  of  glory.  0 
welcome,  welcome  death  !  Thou  mayest  well  be  reck- 
oned among  the  treasures  of  the  Christian.  To  live 
is  Christ,  to  die  is  gain." 

Robert  Bruce  :  "  Now  God  be  with  you,  my  children ; 
I  have  breakfasted  with  you,  and  shall  sup  with  my 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  this  night.". 


THE  BELIEVER'S  VICTORY  OVER  DEATH.     343 

John  Locke  often  exclaimed :  "  0  the  depth  of  the 
riches  of  the  goodness  and  knowledge  of  God.  *  *  I 
have  lived  long  enough,  and  am  thankful  that  I  have 
enjoyed  a  happy  life,  but  after  all  look  upon  this  life 
as  nothing  better  than  vanity." 

Bishop  Burgess :  "  There  must  be  something  to 
bring  every  one  to  his  journey's  end.  The  days  of 
our  years  are  threescore  years  and  ten ;  after  which 
it  is  labour  and  sorrow.  Why  should  I  be  taking  so 
much  care  and  pains,  just  as  if  I  wished  to  live  for 
ever,  when,  as  you  know  (addressing  a  friend)  I  do  not 
wish  to  live  any  longer  than  it  pleases  God."  His 
last  words  were,  "  We  have  peace  with  God :  and  if 
we  have  peace  with  God,  we  have  peace  with  all  the 
world.     Is  it  not  so  ?" 

Grimshaw :  "  I  shall  have  my  greatest  grief  and  my 
greatest  joy  when  I  die — my  greatest  grief  that  I 
have  done  so  little  for  Christ :  my  greatest  joy  that 
Christ  has  done  so  much  for  me." 

Rev.  James  Harrington  Evans  :  "  In  Jesus  I  stand  : 
Jesus  is  a  panacea.  *  *  Beware  of  antinomianism. 
All  that  religion  is  a  fallacy." 

Toplady  :  "  I  believe  God  never  gave  such  manifes- 
tations of  his  love  to  any  creature,  and  suffered  him 
to  live." 

Gilbert  Tennent:  "My  assurance  of  salvation  is 
built  on  the  Scriptures,  and  is  more  sure  than  the  sun 
and  moon." 

John  Tennent :  "  Farewell  my  brethren,  farewell 
father  and  mother,  farewell  world  with  all  thy  vain 
delights.  Welcome  God  and  Father — welcome  sweet 
Lord  Jesus !  Welcome  death — welcome  eternity. 
Amen.     Lord  Jesus,  come,  Lord  Jesus." 


341        THE  believer's  victory  over  death. 

William  Tennent :  "  Blessed  be  God,  I  have  no  wish 
to  live,  if  it  should  be  his  will  and  pleasure  to  call  me 
hence,  unless  it  should  be  to  see  a  happy  issue  to  the 
severe  and  arduous  controversy  my  country  is  engaged 
in ;  but  even  in  this  the  will  of  the  Lord  be  done." 

Rev.  Samuel  Blair :  "  The  Bridegroom  is  come,  and 
we  shall  now  have  all  things.  My  very  soul  thirsts 
for  eternal  rest." 

Rev.  Samuel  Finley :  "  I  see  the  eternal  love  and 
goodness  of  God.  I  see  the  love  of  Jesus.  Oh  to  be 
dissolved,  and  to  be  with  him !  I  long  to  be  clothed 
with  the  complete  righteousness  of  Christ." 

Rev.  Dr.  Waddell :  "  Lord  Jesus,  receive  my 
spirit." 

..  John  Newton :  "  More  light,  more  love,  more  liberty. 
Hereafter  I  hope,  when  I  shut  my  eyes  on  the  things 
of  time,  to  open  them  in  a  better  world.  What  a  thing 
it  is  to  live  under  the  shadow  of  the  wings  of  the 
Almighty  !  I  am  going  the  way  of  all  flesh.  If  the 
Lord  were  not  gracious,  how  could  I  dare  to  stand  be- 
fore him  ?" 

Rev.  Henry  Erskine  said  to  his  family  :  "I  know 
that  I  am  going  to  heaven,  and  if  you  follow  my  foot- 
steps, you  and  I  shall  have  a  happy  meeting  there,  ere 
long." 

Rev.  Ebenezer  Erskine :  "  Though  I  die,  the  Lord 
liveth.  I  have  known  more  of  God  since  I  came  to 
this  bed,  than  through  all  my  life." 

Ralph  Erskine's  last  words  were  :  "  Victory,  victory, 
victory  !" 

John  Wesley  :  "  The  best  of  all  is,  God  is  with  us." 

Fletcher  of  Madely :    "  Head  of  the  Church,  be 

Head  of  my  wife."     To  his  physician,  not  a  professed 


THE  BELIEVER'S  VICTORY  OVER  DEATH.  345 

Christian,  he  said,  "  0  sir,  you  take  much  thought  for 
my  body,  permit  me  to  take  thought  for  your  soul." 
Gilpin  says  :  u  While  he  possessed  the  power  of  speech, 
he  spoke  as  one  whose  lips  had  been  touched  with  a 
live  coal  from  the  altar." 

Augustus  Herman  Franke :  "  I  praise  thee,  dear 
Lord  Jesus,  for  having  washed  me  from  all  my  sins,  and 
made  me  a  king  and  a  priest  in  the  presence  of  thy 
Father,  and  for  having  forgiven  me  the  multitude  of 
my  sins.  Blessed  and  praised  be  thou  for  having 
guided  me  during  my  whole  life  with  maternal  kindness, 
and  for  having  spared  me,  according  to  thy  great  con- 
descension, from  much  suffering.  0  forgive  me,  thou 
Saviour  of  my  heart,  if  in  this  my  painful  disease, 
my  human  will,  through  weakness,  has  not  been  able 
to  resign  itself  so  joyfully  to  thy  divine  will  as  it 
ought ;  and  govern  me  by  thy  Holy  Spirit,  and  let  thy 
divine  power  assist  me  to  the  end !  0  I  know  that 
thou  art  faithful  and  true !  thou  wilt  never  leave  nor 
forsake  me."  His  last  words  in  reply  to  his  wife,  who 
asked  whether  his  Saviour  was  near  him,  were,  "  Of 
that  there  is  no  doubt." 

Dr.  Thomas  Scott,  the  commentator :  "  Christ  is 
my  all.  He  is  my  hope.  0  to  realize  the  fulness  of 
joy  !  0  to  have  done  with  temptation !  This  is  hea- 
ven begun !  I  have  done  with  darkness  for  ever. 
Satan  is  vanquished.  Nothing  remains  but  salvation 
with  eternal  glory." 

Dr.  Heugh :  "  There  are  many  testimonies  in  the 
gospel,  but  the  outline  of  them  all  is  just  this,  Whoso- 
ever believeth  in  Him  shall  not  perish,  but  have  ever- 
lasting life.  This  is  the  whole  gospel.  It's  a  terrible 
thing  to  overlook  the  gospel  by  stinting  it.     It's  a 


346       THE  believer's  victory  over  death. 

terrible  thing  to  stint  the  gospel.  Men  should  neither 
be  dividers,  nor  contractors  of  the  gospel." 

Andrew  Fuller :  "  If  I  am  saved,  it  will  be  by  great 
and  sovereign  grace,  by  great  and  sovereign  grace. 
My  mind  is  calm — no  rapture,  no  despondency.  My  hope 
is  such  that  I  am  not  afraid  to  plunge  into  eternity." 

Rev.  Dr.  Richard  Winter  Hamilton :  "  It  is  my 
earnest  desire  that  from  this  death-bed  an  impression 
may  go  forth,  that  may  tell  on  those  who  lack  the  one 
thing  needful." 

Rev.  George  Burder's  last  prayer  was  for  divine 
protection  and  spiritual  blessings,  closing  with  a  peti- 
tion that  "  our  poor,  poor,  poor  prayers  might  be  ac- 
cepted through  the  blessed  Redeemer." 

Legh  Richmond :  "It  is  only  by  coming  to  Christ 
as  a  little  child,  and  as  for  the  first  time,  that  I  can 
get  peace." 

Samuel  Drew :  "  You  may  say  with  the  greatest  con- 
fidence that  I  am  looking  forward  to  a  better  country. 
Thank  God,  to-morrow  I  shall  join  the  glorious  com- 
pany above."  Again,  "  I  trust  I  shall  to-day  be  with 
the  Lord  Jesus." 

Rev.  Robert  Housman :  "  Here  I  am,  and  here  I 
shall  remain,  until  it  please  the  Lord  to  take  me  to  him- 
self;  and  then  I  shall  sing  of  mercy  and  of  judgment. 
Yea,  unto  thee,  0  Lord,  will  I  sing  for  ever  and  ever." 

John  Frederic  Oberlin :  "Lord  Jesus,  take  me 
speedily;  nevertheless,  thy  will  be  done." 

Felix  Neff:  "  Adieu,  adieu.  I  am  departing  to  our 
Father  in  perfect  peace.  Victory,  victory,  victory  ! 
by  Jesus  Christ !" 

Dr.  Bogue  :  "  I  am  looking  to  that  compassionate 
Saviour,  whose  blood  cleanseth  from  all  sin." 


THE  BELIEVER'S  VICTORY  OVER  DEATH.  347 

Jeremiah  Evarts  :  "  We  cannot  understand — we  can- 
not comprehend — wonderful  glory  !  I  will  praise,  I 
will  praise  him  !     Jesus  reigns." 

Summerfield  :  "  Administer  nothing,  that  will  create 
a  stupor,  not  even  so  much  as  a  little  porter  and  water, 
as  I  wish  to  be  perfectly  collected,  so  that  I  may  have 
an  unclouded  view." 

Dr.  Payson  :  "  Peace,  peace  ;  victory,  victory."  "  I 
am  going,  but  God  will  surely  be  with  you."  His  last 
words  were,  "  Faith  and  patience  hold  out." 

Edward  Bickersteth:  "I  have  been  thinking  much 
of  the  precious  promise,  '  Let  not  your  heart  be  trou- 
bled ;  ye  believe  in  God,  believe  also  in  me.'  " 

Rev.  Dr.  Cornelius:  "Elias  Cornelius  a  spectacle 
to  God,  to  angels,  and  to  men  !  The  Lord  reigns,  let 
the  earth  rejoice." 

Robert  Hall :  "  It  is  death — it  is  death — death  !  0 
the  sufferings  of  this  body."  Mrs.  Hall  said,  "But 
are  you  comfortable  in  your  mind  ?"  He  promptly 
replied,  "Very  comfortable — very  comfortable,"  and 
soon  added,  "  Come,  Lord  Jesus,  come" — and  when 
his  daughter  added  the  word  "  quickly,"  he  gave  her  a 
look  expressive  of  the  most  complacent  delight. 

Dr.  Nevins  :  "Death — Death— xow  come,  Lord 
Jesus — Bear  Saviour." 

John  Heckewelder,  during  his  last  night  on  earth, 
repeated  those  favourite  words : 

"  The  Saviour's  blood  and  righteousness 
My  beauty  is  and  glorious  dress  ; 
Thus  'well  arrayed,  I  need  not  fear 
When  in  his  presence  I  appear." 

His  last  words  were,  "  Golgotha,  Gethsemane." 

Wm.  S.  Graham  :  "  I  have  passed  through  horrible 


348       the  believer's  victory  over  death. 

darkness,  but  it  is  past.  Jesus  will  take  me  safely 
through  the  rest.  My  Saviour  has  conquered,  my 
blessed,  blessed  Saviour  !     He  can  hold  me  up." 

To  Dr.  Waugh  one  said,  "  You  are  now  in  the  deep 
Jordan ;  have  you  any  doubt  that  Christ  will  be  with 
you  ?"  He  replied,  "  Certainly  not !  Who  else  ? 
Who  else  ?" 

Rev.  W.  H.  Hewitson :  "  The  Lord  has  never  for- 
saken me,  and  he  never  will — never.  It  is  the  best, 
the  kindest,  the  most  fatherly  way.  Faith  receives  it 
now ;  sight  shall  soon  behold  it." 

Rev.  Dr.  John  Stanford's  last  words,  written  about 
six  hours  before  his  death,  were  :  "  Composed  in  mind 
and  meditation — looking  to  the  mercy  of  the  Lord 
Jesus." 

Rev.  Dr.  Richard  Furman :  "  0  if  such  sinners  as 
you  and  I  ever  get  to  heaven,  redeeming  grace  shall  be 
greatly  magnified  in  our  salvation."  "  I  am  a  dying 
man,  but  my  trust  is  in  the  Redeemer.  I  preach  Christ 
to  you  dying,  as  I  have  attempted  to  do  while  living. 
I  commend  Christ  and  his  salvation  to  you." 

Rev-  D.  H.  Gillette :  "  0  that  I  had  strength  to  shout. 
I  feel  so  happy;  I  hope  soon  to  be  able."  "0  the 
precious  Saviour ;  what  is  the  world  to  me,  with  all 
its  vanity  ?  Give  me  Jesus."  "  Do  not  weep  for  me, 
I  am  going  home." 

Rev.  Dr.  Alexander  Proudfit:  "When  will  this 
lingering  conflict  end  ?  Oh  for  a  speedy  and  easy  trans- 
ition !  Oh  for  deliverance  from  this  corruptible  body 
— this  body  of  sin  and  death !  Come,  blessed  Jesus, 
dear  Saviour,  come  !  come  !  I  long  to  depart."  His 
last  words  were  that  Jesus  was  present  with  him,  and 
that  he  was  not  afraid  to  die. 


THE  BELIEVER'S  VICTORY  OVER  DEATH.  349 

James  Brainerd  Taylor  :  "  Strive  !  Strive — to  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 

Rev.  Dr.  John  H.  Rice:  "Mercy  is  triumphant." 

Dr.  Nettleton  :  "  It  is  meet  to  trust  in  the  Lord." 

Bishop  White  of  Pa.,  when  dying,  "  fully  expressed, 
with  greater  warmth  and  animation  than  it  was  be- 
lieved his  weakness  would  have  allowed,  and  than  was 
usual  with  him,  his  reliance  upon  the  merits  of  the 
Redeemer  alone  for  acceptance ;  and  the  comfort,  the 
1  charming'  gratification,  of  being  enabled  to  trust  in 
the  divine  goodness,  and  to  realize  the  protecting  care 
of  God  in  life  and  in  death." 

Dr.  Ashbel  Green  left  the  world,  "  blessing  God  for 
the  comforts,  which  the  gospel  had  imparted  to  him, 
and  the  ineffably  glorious  hopes  it  had  inspired  of  sin- 
less perfection  beyond  the  grave." 

Rev.  Charles  Simeon :  "  It  is  said,  0  death,  where 
is  thy  sting  ?  Do  you  see  anything  here  V  "  Does 
not  this  prove  that  my  principles  were  not  founded  on 
fancies  or  enthusiasm,  but  that  there  is  a  reality  in 
them  ?  and  I  find  them  sufficient  to  support  me  in 
death." 

Rev.  Robert  Anderson  :  "  Peace !  peace  !  How 
gracious  God  is  in  so  making  it  all  peace  !  I  may  say, 
with  Lord  Gambier,  that  although  pain  may  distract 
my  body,  yet  it  cannot  disturb  my  spirit."  Turning 
to  his  wife  he  said,  "  Now  is  the  time  to  claim  God's 
promises.     Never  be  afraid." 

Bishop  Moore  of  Va. :  "  I  trust  all  things  are  ar- 
ranged with  me  for  both  worlds."  "I  have  nothing 
more  to  communicate  but  love  for  my  dear  children." 

Dr.  Thomas  Arnold :  "  Thank  God  for  giving  me 
this  pain :  I  have  suffered  so  little  pain  in  my  life,  that 
30 


350       THE  believer's  victory  over  death. 

I  feel  it  is  very  good  for  me  :  now  God  has  given  it  to 
me,  and  I  do  so  thank  him  for  it."  "How  thankful 
I  am  that  my  head  is  untouched." 

Elisha  Macurdy  :  "  The  Saviour  is  all  my  comfort." 
His  last  words  were — "  The  water  of  life." 

Thomas  Cranfield  :  "  A  few  more  sighs,  and  then" — 

Wilberforce  Richmond:  "The  rest,  which  Christ 
gives,  is  sweet." 

Dr.  Bedell's  last  words  were :  "  I  thought  I  should 
have  been  at  home  before  now."  Then  pointing  to 
heaven  he  said,  "  There." 


CHAPTER    XLI. 


SAME    SUBJECT — FEMALES — MISSIONARIES. 

In  these  holy  triumphs  over  death  Christian  females 
have  been  large  sharers.  Christ  is  gracious  to  the 
weaker  vessels  of  mercy,  no  less  than  to  the  strong. 
Mrs.  Savage,  the  sister  of  Matthew  Henry,  said :  "  I 
here  leave  the  testimony  of  my  experience  that  Christ's 
yoke  is  easy  and  his  burden  light." 

Mrs.  Hulton :  "It  is  an  awful  thing  for  the  best 
saint,  who  has  his  accounts  most  ready,  to  stand  before 
the  Judge  of  heaven  and  earth  to  hear  his  final  doom. 
*  *  Here  is  nothing  but  confusion  and  emptiness,  but 
it  will  not  be  so  long." 

Mrs.  Isabella  Graham:  "I  have  no  more  doubt  of 
going  to  my  Saviour,  than  if  I  were  already  in  his 
arms.  My  guilt  is  all  transferred.  He  has  cancelled 
all  my  debt ;  yet  I  would  weep  for  my  sins  against  so 
good  a  God.  It  seems  to  me  there  must  be  weeping 
even  in  heaven." 

Mrs.  Susan  Huntington  :  "  Glorious  covenant !  pre- 
cious promises  !  I  have  given  myself,  soul  and  body, 
to  Him,  in  whom  they  are  yea  and  amen,  and  I  do  not 
fear.    I  desire  him  to  do  with  me  as  shall  please  him." 

Caroline  Fry :  "  This  is  my  bridal-day,  the  begin- 
ning of  my  life.  0  if  this  is  dying,  what  a  mercy ! 
I  have  written  a  book  to  testify  that  God  is  Love.     I 

(351) 


352        THE  believer's  victory  over  death. 

now  testify  that  he  is  Faithfulness  and  Truth.  I 
never  asked  a  petition  of  God  that  sooner  or  later  I 
did  not  obtain." 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Fry  :  "  0  my  dear  Lord,  keep  and 
help  thy  servant."     "  This  is  a  strife,  but  I  am  safe." 

Sarah  Martin  of  Yarmouth,  the  prisoner's  friend, 
and  a  spirit  kindred  to  Mrs.  E.  Fry  said :  "  He  never 
hides  his  face.  It  is  our  sins,  which  form  the  cloud 
between  us  and  him.  He  is  all  love,  all  light ;  with 
him  is  no  variableness,  neither  shadow  of  turning.  My 
precious  Saviour,  my  Beloved  is  always  nigh.  I  can 
testify  of  his  tender,  supporting  love.  I  have  in  health 
spoken  of  it  to  others,  but  till  now  I  have  never  even 
experienced  half  its  fulness." 

Mrs.  Hannah  More  :  K  Jesus  is  all  in  all.  God  of 
grace,  God  of  light,  God  of  love :  whom  have  I  in 
heaven  but  thee  ?  It  pleases  God  to  afflict  me  not  for 
his  pleasure,  but  to  do  me  good,  to  make  me  humble 
and  thankful."  "It  is  a  glorious  thing  to  die."  Her 
last  word  was,  "  Joy  !" 

Mrs.  Hawkes  :  "  And  now  I  cast  self-righteousness 
all  away — I  cast  myself  on  him.  Take  me  as  I  am ; 
make  me  as  thou  art ;  and  if  it  may  please  thee,  give 
me  strength  to  endure." 

Lady  Colquhoun  :  "  I  hope  to  meet  you  all  at  the 
right  hand  of  God." 

Hannah  Lindley  Murray :  "  Glory  to  God  on  high, 
and  on  earth  peace  and  good  will  to  men  !  may  thy 
name  be  glorified  on  the  earth,  0  Lord  God  Almighty  !" 

Maria  Fox :  "I  am  thoroughly  comfortable."  "  I 
know  my  Saviour  loves  me,  and  I  am  reposing  in  his 
love." 

Miss  Isabella  Campbell :  "  0  bear  in  mind  that  our 


THE  BELIEVER'S  VICTORY  OVER  DEATH.    353 

separation  will  be  but  short.  Live  unto  God.  Pare- 
well." 

Mrs.  Margaret  Breckinridge :  "  My  hope  is  in  the 
great  Physician." 

Mrs.  Rumpff:  "Now,  Lord,  give  deliverance." 

One  asked  Mary  Lundie  Duncan,  "  What  is  your 
hope?"     Her  prompt  reply  was.   "The  Cross." 

To  Mary  Lyon,  dying,  her  pastor  said,  "  Christ  pre- 
cious." She  raised  both  hands,  clinched  them,  lifted 
her  head  from  the  pillow,  and  said  audibly  and  with 
emphasis,  "Yes."     This  was  her  last  word. 

Margaret  Miller  Davidson  :  "  Mother,  my  own  dear 
mother,  do  not  grieve.  Our  parting  will  not  be  long. 
In  life  we  were  inseparable,  and  I  feel  that  you  cannot 
live  without  me.  You  will  soon  join  me,  and  we  shall 
part  no  more." 

A  dear  young  wife,  whose  husband  now  (1852)  stands 
on  one  of  the  towers  of  Zion,  recently  left  the  world 
saying :  "  Farewell,  dear  husband  !  The  Lord  com- 
fort you,  and  make  you  very  useful.  It  is  sweet  to 
die.     Christ  is  precious." 

Another  bade  farewell  to  a  dear  husband  and  five 
children,  the  youngest  an  infant,  saying,  "  I  shall  soon 
see  my  Saviour  as  he  is."  In  short,  where  is  the  Chris- 
tian congregation,  in  which  well  authenticated  tradi- 
tions of  the  dying  triumphs  of  God's  people  of  both 
sexes  do  not  abound  ? 

One  of  the  precious  fruits  of  foreign  missions  has 
been  the  elevation  of  the  piety  of  those,  who  remained 
at  home,  by  the  example  of  faith,  patience,  self-denial, 
happiness  and  triumphs  of  those,  who  left  all  to  make 
known  God's  truth  and  grace  to  perishing  men.  To 
such  God  has  always  been  good.  In  their  last  hours 
30* 


354        THE  believer's  victory  over  death. 

he  lias  not  left  them  alone.  The  Lord  strengthened  them 
upon  the  bed  of  languishing,  and  made  all  their  bed 
in  their  sickness.  The  secret  of  the  Lord  was  with 
them,  and  he  showed  them  his  covenant.  A  few  of  the 
dying  words  of  such  are  here  given  to  show  how  kind 
God  is  to  his  people  at  home  and  abroad,  among  friends 
and  in  the  midst  of  strangers. 

John  Eliot  said  :  "  The  evening  clouds  are  passing 
away.  The  Lord  Jesus,  whom  I  have  served,  like 
Polycarp,  for  eighty  years,  forsakes  me  not.  0  come 
in  glory.  I  have  long  waited  for  that  coming ;  let  no 
dark  cloud  rest  on  the  work  of  the  Indians.  Let  it 
live  when  I  am  dead."  His  very  last  words  were, 
"Welcome!     Joy!" 

Christian  Frederic  Swartz  :  "  Let  my  last  conflict,  0 
God,  be  full  of  peace  and  trust.  Hitherto  thou  hast 
preserved  me  ;  hitherto  thou  hast  brought  me  ;  benefits 
have  been  poured  on  me  without  ceasing.  I  deliver 
my  spirit  into  thy  hands — in  mercy  receive  me ;  for 
thou  hast  redeemed  me,  thou  faithful  God."  His  last 
words  were  a  request  that  his  friends  would  sing  the 
hymn  beginning, 

"  Only  to  thee,  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

David  Brainerd :  "  I  shall  soon  glorify  God  with 
the  angels." 

The  last  entry  Henry  Martyn  made  in  his  journal, 
reads  thus :  "  I  sat  in  the  orchard,  and  thought  with 
sweet  comfort  and  peace  of  my  God,  in  solitude  my 
company,  my  friend  and  comforter." 

Pliny  Fisk,  eagerly  looking  up,  said :  "  Christ  and 
his  glory." 

H.  W.  Fox  :  "lam  very  weak,  can  scarcely  speak, 
but  oh!    happy !   happy!    happy!"      "Jesus,  Jesus 


THE  BELIEVER'S  VICTORY  OVER  DEATH.  355 

must  oe  first  in  the  heart.  He  is  first  in  mine,  yes, 
he  is." 

Rev.  Thomas  Thomason :  "  This  is  a  dark  valley, 
but  there  is  light  at  the  end."  "  Thanks  be  unto  God 
for  his  unspeakable  gift."  "  Lord  Jesus,  receive  my 
spirit."  "Lord,  give  me  patience."  "I  hope  the 
Lord  is  coming  quickly." 

Mrs.  Louisa  Mundy :  "  The  prospect  is  to  me  any- 
thing but  gloomy." 

Mrs.  Harriet  Winslow  :  "  How  good  is  the  Lord  l" 

Rev.  Wm.  Carey,  D.  D. :  "I  cannot  say  I  have  any 
rapturous  feelings ;  but  I  am  confident  in  the  promises 
of  the  Lord,  and  wish  to  leave  my  eternal  interests  in 
his  hands — to  place  my  hands  in  his,  as  a  child  wou'ld 
in  his  father's,  to  be  led  where  and  how  he  pleases." 

Rev.  Dr.  Morrison:  "We  have  a  house  not  made 
with  hands  eternal  in  the  heavens." 

Rev.  C.  T.  E.  Rhenius  :  "  We  must  have  patience- 
patience." 

Rev.  Dr.  Marshman  :  "  Can  you  think  of  anything 
I  am  yet  to  do  for  the  kingdom  of  Christ  ?" 

Bishop  Corrie :  "  From  upwards  of  fifty  years'  ex- 
perience of  the  world's  insufficiency  to  afford  happiness, 
and  of  the  power  of  sin,  unless  God  prevent,  to  work 
temporal  and  eternal  ruin,  the  grave  begins  to  appear 
a  refuge  ;  and  I  have  a  deep  conviction  that  they  only 
are  completely  blessed  who  are  in  heaven." 

Mrs.  Jane  Wilson  :  "I  wish  my  friends  to  know  that 
I  never  have  regretted  coming  to  Africa,  although  our 
mission  among  the  Zoolahs  has  not  yet  seemed  to 
effect  any  good." 

Mrs.  Anne  Hasseltine  Judson :  "  My  husband  is  long 
in  coming  ;  the  new  missionaries  are  long  in  coming  ; 


356       THE  believer's  victory  over  death. 

I  must  die  alone,  and  leave  my  little  one  ;  but  as 
it  is  the  will  of  God,  I  acquiesce  in  his  will.  I  am 
not  afraid  of  death.  Tell  him  the  disease  was  most 
violent,  and  I  could  not  write.  Tell  him  how  I  suffered 
and  died." 

Mrs.  Sarah  B.  Judson :  "  I  ever  love  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ."  Mrs.  Sarah  L.  Smith :  "  Lord  Jesus, 
receive  my  spirit." 

The  last  words  in  Dr.  Abeel's  journal  are  :  "  Death 
has  no  sting  !  Oh  may  the  Conqueror  continue  with 
me  till  the  close,  and  then  !  !  !" 

Mrs.  Mary  E.  Van  Lennep's  last  words  were : 
"  Give  my  love,  my  very  best  love  to  father  and  mo- 
ther :  tell  them  I  have  a  great  many  things  to  say  to 
them,  but  I  can't  now.  Tell  them  it  will  be  very, 
very  sweet,  when  all  the  redeemed  meet  together  in 
heaven." 

Indeed,  in  all  the  matchless  dream  of  Bunyan,  no- 
thing is  more  admirable  than  the  final  passage  of  the 
pilgrims  over  Jordan.  We  should  expect  the  great 
and  strong  ones  to  triumph,  but  the  most  feeble  were 
not  left  comfortless.  The  last  words  uttered  by 
Ready-to-halt  were,  "  Welcome,  life."  The  last  words 
of  Feeble-mind  were,  "  Hold  out,  faith  and  patience." 
The  last  words  of  Despondency  were,  "  Farewell,  night ! 
welcome,  day  !"  Even  his  daughter  Much-afraid  "  went 
through  the  river  singing ;  but  none  could  understand 
what  she  said."  The  secret  of  all  these  triumphs  is 
declared  by  Mr.  Standfast,  when  he  says:  "I  see 
myself  now  at  the  end  of  my  journey ;  my  toilsome 
days  are  ended.  I  am  going  to  see  that  head  that 
was  crowned  with  thorns,  and  that  face  that  was  spit 
upon  for  me. 


THE  BELIEVER'S  VICTORY  OVER  DEATH.    357 

"  I  have  formerly  lived  by  hearsay  and  faith  ;  but 
now  I  go  where  I  shall  live  by  sight,  and  shall  be  with 
Him,  in  whose  company  I  delight  myself.  I  have 
loved  to  hear  my  Lord  spoken  of;  and  wherever  I 
have  seen  the  print  of  his  shoe  in  the  earth,  there  have 
I  coveted  to  set  my  foot  too. 

"  His  name  has  been  to  me  as  a  civet-box ;  yea, 
sweeter  than  all  perfumes.  His  voice  to  me  has  been 
most  sweet,  and  his  countenance  I  have  more  desired 
than  they  that  have  most  desired  the  light  of  the  sun. 
His  words  I  did  use  to  gather  for  my  food,  and  for 
antidotes  against  my  faintings.  He  has  held  me,  and 
kept  me  from  mine  iniquities  ;  yea,  my  steps  have  been 
strengthened  in  his  way." 

Indeed  it  is  the  plan  and  purpose  of  God,  through  the 
death  of  his  Son,  to  "  destroy  him  that  had  the  power 
of  death,  that  is,  the  devil ;  and  to  deliver  them,  who 
through  the  fear  of  death,  were  all  their  life-time  sub- 
ject to  bondage."  We  have  seen  how  wondrously 
this  is  accomplished  in  the  last  days  of  many. 

Some  may  ask,  Is  there  no  exception  among  be- 
lievers ?  do  all  die  such  happy  deaths  ?  To  answer  in 
the  affirmative  would  perhaps  be  going  beyond  what  is 
written  in  God's  word,  or  experienced  by  his  people. 
Willison  tells  us  of  an  eminently  godly  minister,  who 
was  very  melancholy,  and  said  to  a  friend,  "  What 
will  you  say  of  him,  who  is  going  out  of  the  world,  and 
can  find  no  comfort?"  His  friend  replied,  "What 
will  you  say  of  our  Saviour  Christ,  who,  when  he  was 
going  out  of  the  world,  found  no  comfort,  but  cried 
out,  '  My  God,  my  God  !  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me?'  " 
Even  if  the  child  of  God  should  not  have  a  cloudless 
sky,  or  should  leave  the  world  in  darkness,  a  great 


358        THE  believer's  victory  over  death. 

affliction  it  would  be,  but  it  would  not  take  away  his 
title  to  eternal  joy.  A  man's  life,  not  his  death, 
must  usually  be  the  test  of  his  real  character,  and  the 
index  to  his  future  destiny.  Besides,  it  is  not  our 
feelings,  it  is  the  merit  of  Christ  that  makes  heaven 
sure  to  the  penitent.  Without  any  unfaithfulness, 
God  in  his  inscrutable  wisdom  might  permit  one  of 
his  real  friends  to  die  in  some  distress  of  mind.  If  so, 
how  sweet  to  such  must  be  the  rest  and  light  of  glory  ! 
They  go  from  the  hottest  of  the  battle  to  the  bosom 
of  God,  from  spiritual  distress  to  the  fruition  of  Christ. 
Their  sun,  which  goes  down  behind. a  cloud,  rises  in 
glory  without  obscurity  for  ever. 


CHAPTER  XLII. 


THE  IMMORTALITY  OF  THE   SOUL. 

Some  bold  errorists  have  asserted  that  the  im- 
mortality of  the  soul  was  not  taught  until  after  the 
time  of  Moses.  They  do  not  deny  the  immortality  of 
the  soul,  not  they.  They  only  assert  it  is  a  modern 
notion.  Let  us  examine  their  assertion.  It  is  freely 
admitted  that  we  have  but  scant  records  of  the  earliest 
ages.  The  whole  history  of  the  creation  and  of  the 
world  for  the  first  two  thousand  years  is  contained  in 
less  than  eleven  chapters  in  Genesis.  The  five  books 
of  Moses,  by  far  the  greater  part  of  which  relates  to 
the  Jews,  cover  a  period  of  two  thousand  five  hun- 
dred and  fifty-three  years.  In  so  brief  a  narrative 
no  reasonable  person  will  expect  very  full  statements 
on  matters  not  akin  to  the  leading  objects  of  the 
writer.  Incidental  notices  of  other  matters  are  suffi- 
cient. The  sacred  writers  often  mention  things  as 
taken  for  granted,  rather  than  formally  state  them. 
The  lawgiver  of  the  Jews  had  higher  objects  before 
him  than  to  please  the  antiquarian.  Yet  he  has  cast 
more  light  on  the  early  history  of  our  race  and  of  our 
world  than  all  other  writers  united. 

It  is  natural  to  inquire  whether  Adam  knew  any- 
thing about  immortality.  It  is  confessed  he  had  an 
immortal  soul.  Did  he  know  it  ?  It  is  surprising,  if 
he  did  not.     He  was  formed  "  in  the  image,  in  the 

(359) 


360  THE  IMMORTALITY  OF  THE  SOUL. 

likeness"  of  God.  It  is  agreed  that  he  learned  the 
use  of  language  in  less  time  than  any  other  person 
ever  did.  Modern  students  of  natural  history,  after 
all  their  researches,  have  not  gained  such  knowledge 
of  birds  and  beasts  as  he  acquired.  He  gave  names 
to  all  cattle,  and  to  the  fowls  of  the  air,  and  to  every 
beast  of  the  field.  Did  he  know  so  much  of  all  God's 
works  around  him,  and  nothing  of  the  grand  work  of 
the  Almighty  within  him  ?  Can  it  be  believed  that  he 
did  not  know  that  he  had  a  soul  ?  or  that  his  soul  was 
immortal?  When  he  saw  an  elephant  tread  on  a 
worm  and  crush  it,  did  he  believe  that  he  was  no  more 
immortal  than  that  worm  ?  God  put  Adam  under  a 
special  trial.  He  forbade  him  to  touch  one  particular 
fruit  under  a  penalty  thus  expressed :  "  In  the  day 
thou  eatest  thereof  thou  shalt  surely  die,"  or  "  dying 
thou  shalt  die."  Did  Adam  understand  these  words? 
Even  natural  religion  teaches  that  God  is  good  and  will 
not  deceive  or  beguile ;  that  he  will  not  threaten  one 
penalty  and  inflict  a  heavier.  To  suspect  him  of  that 
is  to  conceive  blasphemy.  That  curse  included  the 
loss  of  God's  favour,  liability  to  his  displeasure,  to 
pain  and  disease  ;  the  dissolution  of  the  body  ;  the 
effacing  of  the  moral  image  of  God,  forfeiture  of  com- 
munion with  him,  subjection  to  evil  passions  and  tor- 
menting fears,  and  misery  for  ever.  All  these  things 
do  follow  that  transgression.  To  say  that  Adam  did 
not  correctly  understand  the  curse  is  mere  assertion 
contradicted  by  natural  religion.  If  he  regarded  the 
curse  as  including  eternal  death,  then  he  understood 
that  the  human  soul  is  immortal.  If  he  knew  the 
doctrine  of  the  soul's  immortality,  why  should  he  not 
teach  it  to  his  children,  and   they  to  theirs?     Was 


THE  IMMORTALITY  OF  THE  SOUL.  361 

u righteous  Abel"  ignorant  of  his  own  immortality? 
Had  he  no  hope  beyond  this  life  ?  It  requires  far 
more  credulity  to  believe  this  than  the  contrary. 

Did  not  Enoch,  the  seventh  from  Adam,  believe 
men's  souls  to  be  immortal  ?  No  man  ever  preached 
the  doctrine  of  a  future  judgment  more  clearly  than 
he.  But  if  the  soul  is  not  immortal,  but  perishes  with 
the  body,  then  there  can  be  no  account  given  by  any, 
who  die  before  Christ's  coming.  Any  fair  statement 
of  our  accountability  to  God  implies  the  doctrine  of 
the  immortality  of  the  soul.  The  whole  man  that 
sinned,  should  be  punished  ;  the  whole  man  that  obeyed, 
should  be  rewarded.  But  "  Enoch  walked  with  God, 
and  was  not,  for  God  took  him."  He  was  taken  soul 
and  body  to  heaven  at  the  age  of  three  hundred  and 
sixty-jive  years,  which  was  hardly  the  meridian  of  life 
in  those  days.  Without  separation  his  soul  and  body 
were  glorified.  Here  is  immortality  beyond  dispute. 
If  in  those  days  there  were  sceptics,  here  God  demon- 
strated to  them  a  future  state,  a  blissful  life  beyond 
the  present. 

Moses  forsook  all  the  pleasures,  wealth  and  power 
of  Egypt,  and  welcomed  toil,  poverty  and  banishment. 
No  man  at  forty  years  of  age  ever  made  a  greater 
sacrifice.  "What  sustained  him  ?  "  He  had  respect 
unto  the  recompense  of  reward."  And  what  was  that  ? 
any  thing  earthly  ?  a  life  in  Midian  ?  There  was 
nothing  there  comparable  to  the  crown  of  Egypt. 
Was  he  ambitious  of  being  a  leader  and  lawgiver  of 
the  Jews  ?  It  was  nearly  forty  years,  after  he  forsook 
the  court  of  Pharaoh,  before  he  was  called  to  be  the 
prophet  of  Israel,  and  when  called,  he  was  so  reluc- 
tant to  accept  the  office  that  finally  "  the  anger  of  the 
31 


362  THE  IMMORTALITY  OF  THE  SOUL. 

Lord  was  kindled  against  him."  Exod.  iv.  14.  Nor 
was  he  permitted  triumphantly  to  enter  Canaan  with 
his  victorious  legions,  but  died  in  the  wilderness. 
What  then  was  the  reward  which  led  him  to  forego  his 
splendid  earthly  prospects  ?  There  is  but  one  fair 
answer.  He  believed  in  an  invisible  world,  in  the  im- 
mortality of  the  soul,  in  rewards  beyond  this  life. 

In  the  New  Testament  it  is  said  Judas  hanged  him- 
self and  "went  to  his  own  place."  In  all  the  Scrip- 
tures there  is  not  a  more  striking  and  solemn  declara- 
tion of  future  existence  and  retribution.  Is  there 
nothing  like  it  in  the  Pentateuch  ?  There,  speaking 
of  six  men,  iive  of  whom  are  known,  and  all  of  whom 
are  believed  to  have  been  the  true  servants  of  God,  it 
is  said  of  each,  that  when  he  died  he  "  was  gathered 
unto  his  people."  In  Genesis  this  expression  is  applied 
to  Ishmael,  Isaac  and  Jacob.  If  there  can  be  any 
doubt  of  the  import  of  the  phrase  in  these  cases,  let  us 
take  the  remaining  three,  Abraham,  Aaron  and  Moses. 
In  them  there  is  no  room  for  doubt.  The  only  way 
the  expression,  "  lie  was  gathered  unto  his  people," 
can  fail  to  teach  a  future  state  is  by  supposing  that  it 
signifies  that  he  "was  buried  with  his  people."  This 
construction  is  inadmissible.  "Then  Abraham  gave 
up  the  ghost,  and  died  in  a  good  old  age,  an  old  man 
and  full  of  years  ;  and  ivas  gathered  unto  his  people" 
Gen.  xxv.  8.  That  he  was  not  buried  with  his  people 
we  well  know.  His  remote  ancestors  were  buried  in 
Chaldea.  Terah,  his  father,  was  buried  in  Mesopota- 
mia. Both  these  countries  were  hundreds  of  miles  dis- 
tant from  Machpelah,  in  Canaan,  where  Abraham  was 
buried.  It  is  therefore  not  true  that  he  was  interred 
with   his  ancestors  or  people.     Something  else   than 


THE  IMMORTALITY  OF  THE  SOUL.  363 

burial  therefore  is  taught  by  the  phrase  under  consid- 
eration. 

The  second  case  cited  to  the  purpose  in  hand,  is 
found  in  Num.  xx.  24.  "  Aaron  shall  be  gathered 
unto  his  people."  From  the  subsequent  context  we 
learn  that  Aaron  died  in  Mount  Hor,  in  the  wilderness, 
where  none  of  his  ancestors  had  ever  been  buried. 
Indeed  it  was  far  from  any  place,  where  they  had  re- 
sided.    He  was  not  buried  with  his  people. 

The  third  case  is  in  Deut.  xxxii.  49,  50  where  God 
says  to  Moses,  "  Get  thee  up  into  this  mountain  *  *  * 
and  die  in  the  mount  whither  thou  goest  up,  and  be 
gathered  unto  thy  people ;  as  Aaron  thy  brother  died 
in  Mount  Hor,  and  was  gathered  unto  his  people"  So 
Moses  was  not  buried  with  his  people,  but  in  "  Mount 
Nebo,  in  the  land  of  Moab,  which  is  over  against  Jericho, 
and  no  man  knoweth  of  his  sepulchre  unto  this  day." 
"We  are  thus  shut  up  to  the  belief  that  this  phrase 
means  more  than  burial,  and  that  it  clearly  teaches 
that  people  exist  after  death,  and  that  the  congrega- 
tion of  departed  men  receives  accessions  by  the  deaths 
of  those  whom  they  left  behind. 

If  any  demand  further  evidence  that  the  Pentateuch 
teaches  a  future  state,  and  especially  one  of  bliss,  here 
it  is.  God  said  to  Moses,  "  I  am  the  God  of  Abra- 
ham, the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob."  Christ 
himself  urged  this  text  in  proof  of  a  future  state  and  said 
that  "  God  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead,  [the  extinct] 
but  of  the  living."  This  argument  confounded  and 
silenced  the  infidels  of  his  day.  But  our  modern  infi- 
dels beat  the  Sadduoees.  It  is  not  true  that  the  Pen- 
tateuch is  silent  concerning  immortality. 

But  some  ask,  does  not  Job  himself  express  doubt 


364  THE  IMMORTALITY  OF  THE  SOUL. 

of  the  immortality  of  the  soul  ?  Does  he  not  ask, 
(l  if  a  man  die,  shall  he  live  again  ?"  Job  xiv.  14. 
The  context  clearly  shows  that  all  Job  meant  to  assert 
was  that  death  in  man  was  total,  and  that  the  power 
of  death  over  the  body  of  man  continued  so  as  to  pre- 
vent his  return  to  this  worldly  life.  Here  is  the  whole 
passage  :  "  There  is  hope  of  a  tree,  if  it  be  cut  down, 
that  it  will  sprout  again,  and  that  the  tender  branch 
[or  shoot]  thereof  will  not  cease.  Though  the  root 
thereof  wax  old  in  the  earth,  and  the  stock  thereof 
die  in  the  ground ;  yet  through  the  scent  of  water 
it  will  bud,  and  bring  forth  boughs  like  a  plant. 
But  man  dieth  and  wasteth  away  :  yea,  man  giveth  up 
the  ghost  and  where  is  he  ?  As  the  waters  fail  from 
the  sea,  and  as  the  flood  decayeth  and  drieth  up,  so 
man  lieth  down  and  riseth  not ;  till  the  heavens  be  no 
more,  they  shall  not  awake,  nor  be  raised  out  of  their 
sleep.  0  that  thou  wouldest  hide  me  in  the  grave, 
that  thou  wouldest  keep  me  secret,  until  thy  wrath  be 
past ;  that  thou  wouldest  appoint  me  a  set  time,  and  re- 
member me.  If  a  man  die,  shall  he  live  again  ?" 
The  body  of  a  tree  may  die,  and  it  grow  again,  but  if 
a  man  die,  he  will  remain  dead,  "  till  the  heavens  be 
no  more." 

When  we  come  to  examine  other  parts  of  Scripture, 
the  doctrine  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul  shines  out 
everywhere.  Thus  said  David  of  his  dead  child,  "  Can 
I  bring  him  back  again  ?  I  shall  go  to  him,  but  he 
shall  not  return  to  me."  2  Sam.  xii.  23.  So  also 
when  Christ  says,  "  What  is  a  man  profited,  if  he 
shall  gain  the  whole  world,  and  lose  his  own  soul  V 
the  entire  force  of  the  question  turns  upon  the  reality 
of  a  future  state  of  existence. 


THE  IMMORTALITY  OF  THE  SOUL.  365 

The  word  immortal  is  found  but  once  in  the  Bible, 


1  Tim.  i.  17,  and  then  it  is  applied  to  God,  "  the 
King  eternal,  immortal,  invisible."  The  word  immor- 
tality* however,  is  found  five  times.  Once  it  refers  to 
"  the  blessed  and  only  potentate,  the  King  of  kings, 
and  Lord  of  lords,  who  only  hath  immortality."  1  Tim. 
iv.  15,  16.  In  two  cases  (1  Cor.  xv.  53,  54)  it  is 
applied  to  the  resurrection  body,  "  when  this  mortal 
shall  have  put  on  immortality."  In  the  other  cases  it 
is  applied  to  Christians,  and  clearly  signifies  not  mere 
existence,  but  consummate  glory  and  eternal  blessedness 
in  heaven.  Thus  when  Paul  (Rom.  ii.  7)  speaks  of 
some,  who  "  seek  for  glory,  and  honour,  and  immor- 
tality," he  tells  us  they  shall  receive  "  eternal  life." 
So  when  in  2  Tim.  i.  10,  he  speaks  of  Christ  as 
having  "  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light  through 
the  Gospel,"  he  does  not  mean  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
first  taught  the  doctrine  of  an  undying  existence  be- 
yond the  grave ;  but  that  by  the  Gospel  he  has  shown 
us  how  to  escape  the  second  death,  how  to  prevent  our 
immortality  from  being  a  curse,  how  to  attain  to  un- 
fading and  unending  bliss  in  heaven.  Jesus  Christ 
has  all  the  honour  of  a  Saviour.  To  him  is  due  the 
glory  of  making  existence  beyond  this  life  a  blessing 
to  any  of  Adam's  race.  In  all  things  he  has  the  pre- 
eminence. All  we  have  and  all  we  hope  for  is  through 
his  grace. 
31* 


CHAPTER    XLIII 


THE  HAPPY  STATE  OF  GOD'S  PEOPLE  IMMEDIATELY 
AFTER  DEATH. 

The  Westminster  Assembly  taught  that  "  the  com- 
munion in  glory  with  Christ,  which  the  members  of  the 
invisible  church  enjoy  immediately  after  death,  is  in 
that  their  souls  are  then  made  perfect  in  holiness,  and 
received  into  the  highest  heavens,  where  they  behold 
the  face  of  God  in  light  and  glory,  waiting  for  the  full 
redemption  of  their  bodies,  which  even  in  death  con- 
tinue united  to  Christ,  and  rest  in  their  graves  as  in 
their  beds,  till  at  the  last  day  they  be  again  united  to 
their  souls."  This  statement  refers  to  both  the  souls 
and  the  bodies  of  believers.  First,  the  bodies  of  be- 
lievers see  corruption.  They  return  to  the  dust.  Dis- 
solution follows  the  separation  of  the  body  from  the 
soul.  Death  passes  upon  them  as  fully  as  upon  the 
bodies  of  the  wicked.  The  death  of  God's  people  is  a 
reality.  Secondly,  death  does  not  suspend,  interrupt  or 
impair  the  union  which  subsists  between  Christ  and  be- 
lievers, either  their  souls  or  their  bodies.  As  Christ  is  the 
Saviour  of  his  people,  at  home  and  abroad,  by  day  and 
by  night,  awake  and  asleep,  so  also  in  life  and  in  death. 
The  emphatic  and  beautiful  language  of  Scripture  is, 
that  the  bodies  of  the  saints  "  sleep  in  Jesus."  1  Thess. 
iv.  14.  Thirdly,  so  that  there  is  nothing  alarming  or 
painful  in  the  state  of  the  bodies  of  the  saints.  If  they 
(366) 


THE  HAPPY  STATE  OF  GOD'S  PEOPLE.  367 

sleep,  they  do  well.  They  enter  into  peace.  They  rest 
in  their  beds.  Isa.  lvii.  2.  Though  their  sleep  may  be 
long,  it  will  not  be  too  long.  It  is  indeed  profound,  but 
it  is  sweet.  It  shall  have  an  end ;  for,  fourthly,  they 
are  "  waiting  for  the  adoption,  to  wit,  the  redemption 
of  the  body."  Rom.  viii.  23.  This  waiting  is  not  irk- 
some. The  rest  of  the  body  is  perfect,  and  the  waiting 
here  spoken  of  is  a  joyful  expectation  of  the  soul  in 
glory.  It  looks  for  a  reunion,  and  it  shall  surely  take 
place.     But  on  this  point  see  the  next  chapter. 

As  to  the  souls  of  believers  immediately  after  death, 
three  things  are  asserted  of  them.  First,  they  are 
made  perfect  in  holiness.  So  the  Scriptures  assert  that 
then  the  spirits  of  just  men  are  made  perfect,  that  we 
shall  be  like  Christ,  and  the  church  be  presented  glo- 
rious, not  having  spot  or  wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing. 
Heb.  xii.  23  ;  1  John  iii.  2  ;  Eph.  v.  27.  The  second 
thing  said  of  the  souls  of  believers  at  death  is,  that  they 
are  received  into  the  highest  heavens.  The  Jews  and 
others  spoke  of  three  heavens :  first,  the  atmospheric 
heavens,  the  air ;  secondly,  the  starry  heavens,  where 
those  bright  orbs  of  light  roll  in  silent  grandeur,  and 
shine  to  the  glory  of  God ;  and  thirdly,  the  blissful 
abode  of  angels  and  redeemed  men,  called  by  Paul  the 
third  heavens  or  paradise.  1  Cor  xii.  2,  4.  The  third 
thing  said  of  the  righteous  at  death  is  that  in  heaven 
they  behold  the  face  of  God  in  light  and  glory.  "  Bles- 
sed are  the  pure  in  heart,  for  they  shall  see  God."  Matt. 
v.  8.  "  As  for  me,  I  will  behold  thy  face  in  righteous- 
ness." Psa.  xvii.  15.  To  see  God  is  to  enjoy  him.  The 
Divinity,  not  incarnate,  is  not  perceptible  by  any  of 
our  senses  or  faculties.  God  is  the  King  eternal,  im- 
mortal, and  invisible.     No  man  hath  seen  God  at  any 


305  THE  HAPrY  STATE  OF  GOD  S  PEOPLE 

time.  No  man  can  see  him  and  live.  But  all  the  holy 
creatures  above  do  see  the  face  of  God  in  the  person 
of  Jesus  Christ.  "  We  shall  see  him  as  he  is."  1  John  ' 
iii.  2.  Now  we  see  him  "  through  a  glass  darkly,  but 
then  face  to  face."  1  Cor.  xiii.  12.  "And  they  shall 
see  his  face,  and  his  name  shall  be  in  their  foreheads." 
Rev.  xxii.  4.  The  opinion  that  God's  people  are  not 
at  death  admitted  into  the  highest  heavens,  the  abode 
of  angels  and  of  the  glorified  person  of  Jesus  Christ, 
has  long  seemed  to  me  heathenish,  both  in  its  origin 
and  in  its  effects  on  the  mind.  The  Scriptures  clearly 
reveal  that  the  person  of  our  Lord  is  in  heaven.  "  It 
came  to  pass,  while  he  blessed  them,  he  was  parted  from 
them,  and  carried  up  into  heaven."  Luke  xxiv.  51. 
After  his  ascension  the  two  angels  said  to  his  disciples, 
"Ye  men  of  Galilee,  why  stand  ye  gazing  up  into 
heaven  f  This  same  Jesus  which  is  taken  up  from  you 
into  heaven,  shall  so  come  in  like  manner  as  ye  have 
seen  him  go  into  heaven"  Acts  i.  11.  The  heavens 
then  have  received  "  him  until  the  times  of  restitution 
of  all  things."  Acts  iii.  21.  Paul  says  our  great  "  High- 
priest  is  passed  into  the  heavens"  (Heb.  iv.  14 ;)  that 
he  "is  set  on  the  right  hand  of  the  majesty  in  the 
heavens"  (Heb.  viii.  1;)  that  Christ  is  entered  " into 
heaven  itself,  now  to  appear  in  the  presence  of  God  for 
us."  Heb.  ix.  24.  He  "  is  gone  into  heaven,  and  is  on 
the  right  hand  of  G-od"  1  Pet.  iii.  22.  From  Revela- 
tion xxii.  1,  we  are  clearly  taught  that  "  the  throne  of 
God  and  of  the  Lamb"  is  the  same.  Indeed  John  says 
expressly  that  "  in  the  midst  of  the  throne,  and  of  the 
four  beasts,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  elders,  stood  a 
Lamb  as  it  had  been  slain."  Rev.  v.  6.  Christ's  glo- 
rified person  is  therefore  incontestably  proved  to  be  in 


IMMEDIATELY  AFTER  DEATH.  369 

the  highest  heavens.  Now  when  Stephen  saw  the 
heavens  opened,  and  Jesus  standing  on  the  right  hand 
of  God,  and  cried  out,  "  Lord  Jesus,  receive  my  spirit," 
was  his  prayer  not  answered  ?  Who  dare  say  it  was 
not  ?  What  humble  Christian  of  a  child-like  spirit 
ever  doubted  it  ?  If  Christ  did  receive  it,  he  but  ful- 
filled his  promise,  I  will  "  receive  you  unto  myself,  that 
where  I  am,  there  ye  may  be  also."  John  xiv.  3.  If 
he  took  Stephen  to  his  bosom,  he  but  fulfilled  his  own 
intercessory  prayer:  "Father,  I  will  that  they  also 
whom  thou  hast  given  me  be  with  me,  that  they  may 
behold  my  glory  which  thou  hast  given  me."  John 
xvii.  20.  It  was  the  hope  of  being  with  his  exalted 
Saviour  that  put  Paul  in  such  doubt :  "  I  am  in  a  strait 
betwixt  two,  having  a  desire  to  depart  and  to  be  with 
Christ,  which  is  far  better :  nevertheless  to  abide  in 
the  flesh  is  more  needful  for  you."  Phil.  i.  23,  24. 
Paul  loved  the  work  of  serving  the  church.  Pursued 
as  he  pursued  it,  it  was  heaven  below,  though  stripes 
and  bonds,  and  imprisonments  awaited  him  in  every  city. 
God  was  with  him,  testifying  of  his  mission.  Christ 
was  his  salvation.  The  Spirit  was  his  comforter.  He 
was  often  refreshed  by  the  love  of  the  saints.  He 
greatly  rejoiced  in  the  conversion  of  sinners,  and  in  the 
growth  of  Christians.  He  says  to  some,  "  Now  we  live 
if  ye  stand  fast."  Yet  to  depart  and  be  with  Christ 
was  far  better  than  to  exercise  even  an  apostolical 
ministry.  0  blessed  strait !  0  joyous  perplexity !  With 
Christ  earth  is  like  heaven.  Without  him  heaven  would 
be  a  world  without  a  sun.  There  is  none  like  him. 
There  is  no  substitute  for  him.  Blessed  be  God,  we 
shall  be  with  him.  Paul's  choice  and  strait  lay  between 
heaven  and  earth,  celestial  glory  and  earthly  usefulness, 


370  THE  HAPPY  STATE  OF  GOD'S  PEOPLE 

not  between  earth  and  some  other  place  unknown  to  God's 
people.  In  2  Cor.  v.  8,  Paul  says,  "  We  are  willing  to 
be  absent  from  the  body  and  present  with  the  Lord." 
Here  he  clearly  teaches  that  the  soul  in  its  absence 
from  the  body  is  present  with  Christ,  and  does  not  wait 
till  the  resurrection  before  it  enjoys  that  exalted  privi- 
lege. He  had  just  before  said,  "  We  know  that  if  our 
earthly  house  of  this  tabernacle  were  dissolved,  we 
have  a  building  of  God,  a  house  not  made  with  hands, 
eternal  in  the  heavens.  For  in  this  we  groan,  earnestly 
desiring  to  be  clothed  upon  with  our  house,  which  is 
from  heaven."  2  Cor.  v.  1,  2.  Such  language  is  wholly 
unmistakable. 

So  also  to  the  penitent  thief,  Jesus  Christ  said,  "This 
day  shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  paradise."  We  have 
already  seen  how  Paul  uses  the  terms,  paradise  and  the 
third  heaven,  interchangeably.  Even  Bellarmine  ad- 
mits that  paradise  and  the  third  heaven  are  the  same. 
The  effort  of  some  to  make  it  appear  that  paradise  is 
not  the  same  as  heaven,  is  as  illogical  as  would  be  an 
attempt  to  show  that  hell  and  the  lake  of  fire  are  two 
different  places,  whereas  we  know  they  are  one  and  the 
same  place.  The  Westminster  Assembly  having  spoken 
of  heaven  and  hell,  say :  "  Besides  these  two  places  for 
souls  separated  from  their  bodies,  the  Scripture  ac- 
knowledged none."  Purgatory  is  an  invention  of  a 
covetous  priesthood.  A  paradise,  different  and  remote 
from  heaven,  is  a  figment  of  dreamers,  some  of  whom 
have  written  well  on  other  subjects,  but  on  this  matter 
they  have  gotten  their  views  rather  from  heathen  poets 
than  from  inspired  prophets  and  apostles.  Dying  be- 
lievers often  have  no  more  doubt  that  they  are  going 
straightway  into  the  blissful  presence  of  Christ  than 


IMMEDIATELY  AFTER  DEATH.  371 

they  have  of  his  existence.  There  is  no  "  place  of  safe- 
keeping" for  the  souls  of  the  saints  but  the  bosom  of 
God,  the  highest  heavens. 

In  that  blissful  world,  where  Christ  is,  are  the  glo- 
rified bodies  of  Enoch  and  of  Elijah,  Heb.  xi.  5,  and 
2  Kings  ii.  11.  Some  also  suppose  that  the  saints,  who 
arose  after  Christ's  resurrection,  and  appeared  to  many 
in  Jerusalem,  did  not  return  to  their  graves,  but  formed 
a  part  of  his  glorious  retinue,  as  he  returned  to  the 
bright  mansions  on  high.  There  too  are  the  spirits 
of  just  men  made  perfect.  Lazarus  was  "  afar  off" 
from  the  rich  man  in  hell.  The  former  was  in  Abra- 
ham's bosom.  The  latter  had  his  abode  in  what  he 
called  "this  place  of  torment."  The  whole  parable 
shows  that  these  states  were  fixed,  perpetual,  un- 
changeable. 

When  we  open  God's  word  we  are  delighted  with 
the  abundance  of  promises  of  rest  and  bliss,  all  made 
in  such  a  way  as  to  create  the  hope  of  heavenly  glory 
as  soon  as  we,  if  believers,  shall  leave  the  world.  Christ 
says  to  his  persecuted  disciples,  "  Rejoice  and  be  ex- 
ceeding glad;  for  great  is  your  reward  in  heaven" 
Matt.  v.  12.  "Lay  up  for  yourselves  treasures  in 
heaven"  &c.  Matt.  vi.  20.  "  Whosoever  shall  confess 
me  before  men,  him  will  I  confess  also  before  my  Father 
ivhich  is  in  heaven"  Matt.  x.  32.  "  If  thou  wilt  be  per- 
fect, go  and  sell  that  thou  hast,  and  give  to  the  poor ; 
and  thou  shalt  have  treasure  in  heaven."  Matt.  xix.  21. 
Paul  speaks  to  the  Colossians  of  the  "hope  which  is 
laid  up  for  you  in  heaven."  Coloss.  i.  5.  To  the  He- 
brews he  says,  "  Ye  took  joyfully  the  spoiling  of  your 
goods,  knowing  in  yourselves  that  ye  have  in  heaven  a 
better  and  an  enduring  substance."  Heb.  x.  34.     So 


372  THE  HAPPY  STATE  OF  GOD'S  PEOPLE 

he  says  that  the  suffering  people  of  God  "  desire  a 
better  country,  that  is,  a  heavenly"  Heb.'xi.  16.  So 
Peter  says  that  his  brethren  had  been  begotten  "  to  an 
inheritance  incorruptible,  and  undefiled,  and  that  fadeth 
not  away,  reserved  in  heaven  for  you."  1  Pet.  i.  4. 
If  these  things  were  not  so,  how  could  the  inspired 
preacher  have  "praised  the  dead  which  are  already 
dead,  more  than  the  living,  which  are  yet  alive?" 
Ecc.  iv.  2.  No  wise  man  could  do  that,  unless  he  be- 
lieved they  were  in  heaven,  which  alone,  according 
to  Paul,  is  better  than  usefulness  in  the  church  on 
earth. 

These  views,  drawn  from  God's  word,  have  been 
very  generally  entertained  by  the  Church  of  Christ  in 
all  ages.  It  is  true  some  of  the  Fathers  uttered  very 
crude  opinions  on  some  things  connected  with  this  sub- 
ject. Yet  at  times  they  speak  very  clearly.  Take  the 
following  examples  out  of  many.  Tertullian  says : 
"  Hell  is  one  thing,  and  Abraham's  bosom  another,  as 
I  suppose  ;  neither  is  it  to  be  believed  that  the  bosom 
of  Abraham,  which  is  the  habitation  of  a  sacred  kind 
of  rest,  was  any  part  of  hell"  [inferoruni],  "  Neither 
could  the  rich  man  have  lifted  up  his  eyes,  and  that 
afar  off,  unless  it  had  been  unto  places  above  him,  and 
very  far  above  him,  by  reason  of  the  mighty  distance 
between  that  height  and  that  depth." 

Ambrose :  "  Come  into  the  bosom  of  Jacob ;  that, 
as  poor  Lazarus  died  in  the  bosom  of  Abraham,  so  thou 
also  mayest  rest  in  the  tranquillity  of  the  patriarch 
Jacob.  For  the  bosom  of  the  patriarch  is  a  certain 
abode  [recessus]  of  everlasting  rest."  "  "We  shall  go 
where  holy  Abraham  openeth  his  bosom  to  receive  the 
poor,  as  he  did  receive  Lazarus;  in  which  bosom  they 


IMMEDIATELY  AFTEK  DEATH.  373 

do  rest,  who  in  this  world  have  endured  grievous  and 
sharp  things."  "  Into  paradise  is  an  ascent,  into  hell 
a  descent.  Let  them  descend,  saith  he,  quick  into  hell. 
And  therefore  poor  Lazarus  was  by  the  angels  lifted 
up  into  Abraham's  bosom."  "Behold  that  poof  man 
abounding  with  all  good  things  ;  whom  the  blessed  rest 
of  the  holy  patriarch  did  compass  about."  "Lazarus 
lying  in  Abraham's  bosom  enjoyed  everlasting  life." 

Chrysostom  :  "  Lazarus,  who  was  worthy  of  heaven, 
and  the  kingdom  that  is  there,  being  full  of  sores,  was 
exposed  to  the  tongues  of  dogs,  and  strove  with  per- 
petual hunger."  "After  famine,  and  sores,  and  lying 
in  the  porch,  he  enjoyed  that  refreshing  which  cannot 
be  expressed  by  speech,  even  unspeakable  good  things." 

Augustine :  "I  have  not  hitherto  found,  and  I  do 
yet  inquire  ;  neither  do  I  remember  that  the  canonical 
Scripture  doth  anywhere  put  hell  in  the  good  part. 
Now  that  the  bosom  of  Abraham,  and  that  rest,  unto 
which  the  godly  poor  man  was  carried  by  the  angels, 
should  not  be  taken  in  the  good  part,  I  know  not  whether 
any  good  man  can  endure  to  hear ;  and  therefore  how  we 
may  believe  it  is  in  hell  [apud  inferos]  I  do  not  see." 
"  I  confess  I  have  not  yet  found  that  it  is  called  hell, 
where  the  souls  of  just  men  do  rest."  "How  much 
more  after  this  life  may  that  bosom  of  Abraham  be 
called  paradise  ;  where  now  there  is  no  temptation, 
where  is  so  great  rest  after  all  the  griefs  of  this  life  ! 
For  neither  is  there  wanting  there  a  proper  kind  of  light, 
and  of  its  own  kind  [sui  generis],  and  doubtless  great ; 
which  that  rich  man  out  of  the  torments  and  darkness 
of  hell,  even  from  so  remote  a  place,  where  a  great  gulf 
was  fixed  in  the  midst,  did  so  behold,  that  he  might  there 
take  notice  of  the  poor  man  whom  he  had  formerly 
32 


374  THE  HAPPY  STATE  OF  GOD'S  PEOPLE. 

despised."  "  The  bosom  of  Abraham  is  the  rest  of  the 
blessed  poor,  whose  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  in  which 
after  this  life  they  are  received." 

Origen :  "  Thither  will  I  go,  where  are  the  taber- 
nacles of  the  righteous,  where  are  the  glories  of  the 
saints,  where  is  the  rest  of  the  faithful,  where  is  the 
consolation  of  the  godly,  where  is  the  inheritance  of  the 
merciful,  where  is  the  bliss  of  the  undefiled,  where  are 
the  joys  and  consolation  of  such  as  love  the  truth. 
Thither  will  I  go,  where  are  light  and  life,  where  are 
glory  and  mirth,  where  are  joy  and  exultation  ;  whence 
grief  and  heaviness  and  groaning  fly  away,  where  they 
forget  the  former  tribulations  that  they  bare  in  the 
body  upon  earth.  Thither  will  I  go,  where  there  is  a 
putting  off  of  tribulations,  where  there  is  a  recompense 
of  labours,  where  is  the  bosom  of  Abraham,  where  is 
the  propriety  of  Isaac,  where  is  the  familiarity  of  Israel ; 
where  are  the  souls  of  the  saints,  the  choir  of  angels, 
the  voices  of  archangels,  the  illumination  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  the  endless  glory  and 
blessed  presence  [conspectus^  of  the  eternal  God  the 
Father." 

The  happy  conclusion  at  which  we  arrive,  is  that  of 
the  Westminster  Assembly :  "  The  souls  of  believers 
are,  at  their  death,  made  perfect  in  holiness,  and  do 
immediately  pass  into  glory;"  or  as  the  Church  of 
Ireland  expresses  it:  "After  this  life  is  ended,  the 
souls  of  God's  children  will  be  presently  received  into 
heaven,  there  to  enjoy  unspeakable  comforts." 


CHAPTER    XLIV 


THE  RESURRECTION  OF  LIFE. 

The  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  has  always  been 
offensive  to  the  carnal  mind.  Infidels  and  ungodly 
men  seem  to  manifest  peculiar  virulence  against  it. 
The  cause  of  error  on  this  subject  is  the  same  as  in 
our  Saviour's  day.  He  said  to  the  Sadducees,  who 
denied  it,  "  ye  do  err,  not  knowing  the  Scriptures, 
nor  the  power  of  God."  The  Scriptures  teach  the 
doctrine.  The  power  of  God  is  unlimited.  "  Why 
should  it  be  thought  a  thing  incredible  with  you,  that 
God  should  raise  the  dead  ?"  The  history  of  the  faith 
of  God's  people  on  this  subject  is  briefly  this.  With- 
out repeating  what  was  said  of  Enoch  in  a  former  chap- 
ter, it  may  be  stated  that  eighteen  hundred  and  seven- 
ty-Uuo  years  before  Christ  Abraham  offered  up  Isaac. 
In  Hebrews  xi.  19,  Paul  says  that  the  patriarch 
"  accounted  that  God  was  able  to  raise  him  up,  even 
from  the  dead,  from  whence  also  he  received  him  in 
a  figure."  Abraham  then  believed  this  doctrine  rea- 
sonable, and  in  offering  up  Isaac  was  sustained  by  it. 

Job  is  thought  to  have  lived  about  sixteen  hundred 
and  fifty  years  before  Christ.  His  belief  of  this  doc- 
trine has  never  been  disproved,  though  his  statement 
on  the  subject  has  been  much  carped  at  and  criticised. 
Yet  it  remains  and  shall  ever  remain  firm  and  clear  : 
"  I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth,  and  that  he  shall 

(375) 


376  THE  RESURRECTION  OF  LIFE. 

stand  at  the  latter  day  upon  the  earth ;  and  though 
after  my  skin  worms  destroy  this  body,  yet  in  my  flesh 
shall  I  see  God  ;  whom  I  shall  see  for  myself,  and 
mine  eyes  shall  behold,  and  not  another,  though  my 
reins  be  consumed  within  me."  Job  xix.  20 — 27. 
All  human  ingenuity  is  inadequate  to  the  destruction 
of  the  glorious  hopes  here  expressed.  Fair  and  sober 
criticism  rather  strengthens  than  impairs  the  force  of 
our  translation. 

About  a  hundred  and  one  years  later,  and  in  his 
last  sermon  to  the  Israelites,  Moses  brings  in  God  as 
saying  :  "  I  kill,  and  I  make  alive."  Deut.  xxxii.  39. 
For  many  centuries  together  Jewish  writers  held  that 
this  passage  taught  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection. 
There  is  nothing  forced  in  this  construction.  What  is 
it  to  make  alive,  but  to  raise  from  the  dead  ? 

About  three  hundred  and  ninety  years  later,  David 
foretold  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  saying,  "  Thou 
wilt  not  suffer  thy  holy  One  to  see  corruption."  Psa. 
xvi.  10.  We  have  an  inspired  exposition  of  this  pas- 
sage given  by  the  apostle  Peter  on  the  day  of  Pentecost. 
Acts  ii.  27 — 32.  We  do  therefore  know  that  more 
than  eleven  hundred  years  before  the  Christian  era, 
the  resurrection  of  Christ  was  predicted. 

Still  later  we  find  Ezekiel  borrowing  his  splendid 
imagery  from  this  doctrine,  and  crying  out,  "  Can 
these  bones  live  ?"  We  also  find  Daniel  plainly  de- 
claring it :  "  Many  of  them  that  sleep  in  the  dust  of 
the  earth  shall  awake,  some  to  everlasting  life,  and 
some  to  shame  and  everlasting  contempt."  Dan. 
xii.  2. 

After  the  close  of  the  canon  of  the  Old  Testament, 
we  find  the  same  doctrine  held  by  the  pious  Jews,  who 


THE  RESURRECTION  OF  LIFE.  377 

suffered  persecution  under  Antiochus.  Hear  some  of 
the  words  of  those  seven  brethren,  whose  fame  as 
martyrs  will  probably  last  till  time  shall  be  no  longer. 
One  of  them,  just  about  to  die,  boldly  says  to  the 
tyrant :  "  Thou,  like  a  fury,  takest  us  out  of  this 
present  life,  but  the  King  of  the  world  will  raise  us  up, 
who  have  suffered  for  his  laws,  unto  everlasting  life." 
Another,  stretching  out  his  hands  said  :  "  These  I  had 
from  heaven,  and  for  His  love  I  despise  them,  and  from 
Him  I  hope  to  receive  them  again."  Another  in  the 
awful  hour  of  his  sufferings  said :  "  It  is  good,  being  put 
to  death  by  men,  to  look  for  hope  from  God,  to  be 
raised  up  again  by  him." 

That  all  the  Jews,  except  those  loose  infidels,  the  Sad- 
ducees,  believed  this  doctrine,  none  can  doubt.  When 
Christ  said  to  the  weeping  Martha,  "Thy  brother 
shall  rise  again,''  she  replied,  "I  know  that  he  shall 
rise  again  at  the  last  day."  So  Paul  said,  "  I  have 
hope  toward  God,  which  they  themselves  also  allow, 
that  there  shall  be  a  resurrection  of  the  dead,  both  of 
the  just  and  of  the  unjust."  Acts  xxiv.  15.  In  the 
13th  article  of  a  creed  of  fundamental  doctrines 
arranged  by  that  learned  Jew,  Maimonides,  more 
than  a  thousand  years  after  Paul's  time,  are  these 
words :  "  I  believe  with  a  perfect  faith,  that  the  dead 
shall  be  restored  to  life,  when  it  shall  seem  fit  to  God 
the  Creator."  This  creed  was  in  general  use  among: 
Israelites  for  centuries.  Indeed  Pocock  tells  us  that 
in  his  day  the  Jews  generally  used  these  words  at  the 
graves  of  their  friends  :  "  Blessed  be  the  Lord  our 
God,  who  formed  you  with  judgment,  preserved  you 
alive,  delivered  you  up  to  death,  who  knows  the  num- 
ber of  you  all,  who  will  raise  you  up  again,  who  will 
32* 


378  TIIE  RESURRECTION  OF  LIFE. 

restore  you  with  judgment.  Blessed  art  thou,  0  Lord, 
who  givest  life  to  the  dead :  may  the  dead  live,  with 
my  dead  body  may  they  rise  again." 

That  the  resurrection  is  a  doctrine  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament is  very  clear.  Besides  the  texts  already  quo- 
ted take  the  following,  uttered  by  Christ :  "  In  the 
resurrection  they  neither  marry,  nor  are  given  in  mar- 
riage, but  are  as  the  angels  of  God  in  heaven."  Matt, 
xxii.  30.  "  When  thou  makest  a  feast,  call  the  poor, 
the  maimed,  the  lame,  the  blind  ;  and  thou  shalt  be 
blessed  ;  for  they  cannot  recompense  thee :  for  thou 
shalt  be  recompensed  at  the  resurrection  of  the  just." 
Luke  xiv.  14.  Again  Christ  speaks  of  "  the  children 
of  the  resurrection,"  who  cannot  "  die  any  more."  In 
many  other  places  he  says  as  much. 

After  the  ascension  of  our  Lord,  his  apostles  con- 
tinually bring  up  the  same  subject.  One  ground  of 
offence  to  many  wras  that  they  li  preached  through 
Jesus  the  resurrection  from  the  dead."  Acts  iv.  2; 
xvii.  18,  32  ;  xxiv.  21.  It  will  not  be  denied  that  Laza- 
rus was  raised  from  the  dead.  See  John  xi.  43,  44  ;  nor 
that  several  persons  arose  from  the  dead  about  the  time 
of  the  resurrection  of  our  Saviour.  Matt,  xxvii.  52,  53. 
That  the  resurrection  of  Christ  was  true  all  the  apostles 
were  witnesses.  Acts  i.  22.  Indeed  no  man  could  be 
an  apostle  unless  he  had  seen  the  Lord  after  his  resur- 
rection. Paul  has  summed  up  the  whole  doctrine  in 
1  Cor.  xv.  12—23,  and  35—49.  "Now  if  Christ  be 
preached  that  he  rose  from  the  dead,  how  say  some 
among  you  that  there  is  no  resurrection  of  the  dead  ? 
But  if  there  be  no  resurrection  of  the  dead,  then  is 
Christ  not  risen :  and  if  Christ  be  not  risen,  then  is 
our  preaching  vain,  and  your  faith  is  also  vain.     Yea, 


THE  RESURRECTION  OF  LIFE.  379 

and  we  are  found  false  witnesses  of  God  ;  because  we 
have  testified  of  God  that  he  raised  up  Christ ;  whom 
he  raised  not  up,  if  so  be  that  the  dead  rise  not.  For 
if  the  dead  rise  not,  then  is  not  Christ  raised  :  and  if 
Christ  be  not  raised,  your  faith  is  vain ;  ye  are  yet  in 
your  sins.  Then  they  also  which  are  fallen  asleep  in 
Christ  are  perished.  If  in  this  life  only  we  have  hope 
in  Christ,  we  are  of  all  men  most  miserable.  But  now 
is  Christ  risen  from  the  dead,  and  become  the  first- 
fruits  of  them  that  slept.  For  since  by  man  came 
death,  by  man  came  also  the  resurrection  of  the  dead. 
For  as  in  Adam  all  die,  even  so  in  Christ  shall  all  be 
made  alive.  But  every  man  in  his  own  order  ;  Christ 
the  first-fruits  ;  afterward  they  that  are  Christ's  at  his 
coming.  *  *  But  some  man  will  say,  How  are 
the  dead  raised  up  ?  and  with  what  body  do  they  come  ? 
Thou  fool,  that  which  thou  sowest  is  not  quickened 
except  it  die  :  and  that  which  thou  sowest,  thou  sowest 
not  that  body  that  shall  be,  but  bare  grain ;  it  may 
chance  of  wheat,  or  of  some  other  grain  :  but  God 
giveth  it  a  body  as  it  hath  pleased  him,  and  to  every 
seed  his  own  body.  All  flesh  is  not  the  same  flesh ; 
but  there  is  one  kind  of  flesh  of  men,  another  flesh  of 
beasts,  another  of  fishes,  and  another  of  birds.  There 
are  also  celestial  bodies,  and  bodies  terrestrial ;  but 
the  glory  of  the  celestial  is  one,  and  the  glory  of  the 
terrestrial  is  another.  There  is  one  glory  of  the  sun, 
and  another  glory  of  the  moon  and  another  glory  of 
the  stars ;  for  one  star  differeth  from  another  star  in 
glory.  So  also  is  the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  It  is 
sown  in  corruption,  it  is  raised  in  incorruption  :  it 
is  sown  in  dishonour,  it  is  raised  in  glory:  it  is 
sown  in  weakness,  it  is  raised  in  power :  it  is  sown  a 


380  THE  RESURRECTION  OF  LIFE. 

natural  body,  it  is  raised  a  spiritual  body.  There  is  a 
natural  body,  and  there  is  a  spiritual  body.  And  so 
it  is  written,  the  first  man  Adam  was  made  a  liv- 
ing soul,  the  last  Adam  was  made  a  quickening 
spirit.  Howbeit  that  was  not  first  which  is  spirit- 
ual, but  that  which  is  natural,  and  afterward  that 
which  is  spiritual.  The  first  man  is  of  the  earth, 
earthy;  the  second  man  is  the  Lord  from  heaven. 
As  is  the  earthy,  such  are  they  also  that  are  earthy ; 
and  as  is  the  heavenly,  such  are  they  also  that  are 
heavenly.  And  as  we  have  borne  the  image  of  the 
earthy,  we  shall  also  bear  the  image  of  the  heavenly." 
From  this  passage  it  is  clear,  1.  That  the  doctrine  of 
the  resurrection  is  fundamental.  Without  it  preach- 
ing is  idle  and  faith  is  vain.  vs.  14,  17.  2.  That 
the  resurrection  of  Christ  and  that  of  his  people  are 
so  connected  that  he  who  denies  one  subverts  the 
other,  vs.  12,  13.  3.  That  this  doctrine  is  very  con- 
solatory to  the  suffering  people  of  God,  and  nothing 
can  compensate  for  the  want  of  it.  v.  14.  4.  That 
the  work  of  Christ  as  to  his  people  would  manifestly 
be  imperfect  if  he  did  not  raise  them  up.  vs.  21,  22. 
5.  That  hard  questions  concerning  the  resurrection 
are  foolish  and  have  not  even  the  merit  of  originality. 
vs.  35,  36.  6.  That  nature  affords  us  illustrations  of 
many  things  quite  as  inexplicable  as  the  resurrection 
of  the  dead,  yet  we  do  not  deny  the  facts,  as  in  the 
growth  of  grain,  vs.  36,  37,  38.  7.  That  it  does  not  at 
all  impair  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  that  the 
body  we  shall  then  have  will  be  very  different  from 
the  body  we  now  have.  vs.  39 — 41.  8.  That  some  of 
the  dead  shall  be  raised  in  more  glory  than  others,  vs. 
41.  42.     9.  That  the  resurrection  body  shall  be  fash- 


THE  RESURRECTION  OF  LIFE.  381 

ioned  and  formed  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  so  shall  be  a 
spiritual  body.  v.  44.  10.  The  key  to  the  right  in- 
terpretation of  the  whole  passage  is  found  in  the  fact 
that  Paul  is  writing  to  Christians,  and  is  mainly  treat- 
ing of  the  resurrection  of  the  just,  and  only  incidentally 
of  that  of  the  unjust. 

The  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  is  incorporated  into 
every  summary  creed  of  the  early  orthodox  Christians. 
The  Apostles'  Creed  says  :  "  I  believe  in  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  body."  The  Aquileian  has  it :  "I  believe 
in  the  resurrection  of  the  flesh."  That  of  Damascus 
says:  "We  believe  we  shall  be  raised  with  the  same 
real  members  and  flesh,  in  which  we  now  live." 

The  Christian  fathers  are  no  less  explicit :  Jerome 
says :  "  The  Catholic  faith  cannot  be  maintained, 
unless  it  be  maintained  that  a  body  with  flesh  and 
bones,  blood  and  members,  be  restored."  In  one  place 
Tertullian  calls  the  resurrection  body  carnem  angeli- 
jicatam — flesh  made  like  that  of  angels.  Elsewhere  he 
says :  "  The  body  is  the  soul's  sister  and  co-heir,  and 
therefore  shall  share  with  it  in  its  estate."  In  remark- 
ing on  the  98th  Psalm,  Augustine  clearly  announces  the 
same  to  be  his  belief.  Even  Origen,  who  held  some 
crude  opinions  on  the  subject,  says :  "  As  we  retain 
the  same  body  from  infancy  to  old  age,  though  the 
characters  appear  to  be  much  changed,  so  we  ought  to 
understand  that  the  very  same  species  will  remain  in 
the  life  to  come,  though  changed  very  much  for  the 
better."  Soon  after  he  says :  "  The  former  species 
shall  remain,  though  it  be  made  more  glorious."  Again 
he  says :  "Is  it  not  absurd,  that  the  body,  which 
bears  the  scars  of  wounds  received  for  Christ's  sake, 
and  which  as  well  as  the  soul  endured  cruel  torments 


382  THE  RESURRECTION  OF  LIFE. 

in  persecutions,  and  suffered  the  penalties  of  bonds 
and  imprisonments,  should  be  deprived  of  the  rewards 
due  to  it  for  so  great  sufferings  ?  Does  it  not  seem 
contrary  to  all  reason,  that  the  soul,  which  did  not 
suffer  alone,  should  be  rewarded  alone,  and  its  vessel, 
the  body,  which  served  it  with  so  great  labour,  should 
obtain  no  reward?" 

We  have  seen  how  Jewish  martyrs  under  Antiochus 
cleaved  to  this  doctrine.  Scarcely  a  Christian  martyr- 
dom .is  recorded  at  any  length,  which  does  not  show 
that  this  doctrine  was  avowed  by  those  faithful  wit- 
nesses. About  the  year  177  the  churches  of  Vienne 
and  Lyons  wrote  a  letter  to  the  churches  of  Asia  and 
Phrygia,  describing  their  sufferings.  This  letter  is  still 
extant  in  Eusebius.  In  it  they  say,  that  their  "  per- 
secutors would  not  suffer  the  bodies  of  the  martyrs  to 
be  buried,  but  threw  them  to  the  dogs  to  be  devoured, 
and  burnt  them  to  ashes,  and  then  cast  their  ashes  into 
the  river  ;  and  this  they  did,  as  if  they  could  overcome 
God,  and  hinder  their  resurrection,  through  belief  of 
which  they  despised  the  greatest  torments." 

Yet  this  doctrine  has  always  been  opposed  by  wicked 
men.  All  the  heathen  philosophers  rejected  it.  When 
Paul  preached  it  at  Athens,  the  seat  of  their  most 
famous  schools,  "  some  mocked."  Acts  xvii.  32.  In 
his  Natural  History,  Pliny  numbers  it  among  impossi- 
bilities to  recall  the  dead.  Celsus  calls  the  doctrine 
of  the  resurrection  abominable,  and  insults  the  people 
of  God  as  madmen,  for  believing  it.  Tertullian  says 
every  sect  of  the  philosophers  denied  it.  And  Augus- 
tine says  there  was  nothing  in  the  Christian  religion 
so  vehemently  opposed  by  them,  as  the  doctrine  of  the 
resurrection.     In  every  age  men  of  the  same  mood 


THE  RESURRECTION  OF  LIFE.  383 

and  temper  have  hated  it,  and  will  do  so  to  the  end  of 
time.  Nevertheless,  "  it  is  a  faithful  saying,  if  we  be 
dead  with  him,  we  shall  also  live  with  him."  2  Tim. 
ii.  11.  By  persuading  men  that  there  is  no  resurrec- 
tion, errorists  do  but  "  overthrow  their  faith."  2  Tim. 
ii.  18.  The  real  Christian  is  not  to  be  spoiled  through 
philosophy  and  vain  deceit.  He  looks  at  this  doctrine 
as  a  corner-stone,  and  knowing  its  truth  he  says  with 
Paul,  "  0  death,  where  is  thy  sting  ?  0  grave,  where 
is  thy  victory."  1  Cor.  xv.  55. 

The  Scriptures  do  not  represent  the  resurrection  of 
the  wicked  as  a  blessing,  though  they  speak  of  it  as 
certain.  But  the  resurrection  of  the  righteous  is  ever 
a  theme  of  triumph.  The  resurrection  of  the  wicked 
is  "to  shame  and  everlasting  contempt."  It  is  "  the 
resurrection  of  the  unjust."  It  is  "  the  resurrection 
of  damnation."  John  v.  29.  On  the  other  hand, 
through  the  grace  of  Christ  the  resurrection  of  the 
just  is  "a  better  resurrection."  It  is  "the  resur- 
rection of  life."  John  v.  29.  It  is  the  resurrection 
"  to  everlasting  life."  Dan.  xii.  2.  It  is  one  of  the 
inestimable  blessings  of  Christ's  mediation.  To  him 
alone  is  due  all  the  glory  of  making  a  resurrection 
desirable.  He  said,  "I  am  the  resurrection  and 
the  life  :  he  that  believeth  in  me,  though  he  were 
dead,  yet  shall  he  live."  John  v.  25.  And  as  Jesus 
was  "declared  to  be  the  Son  of  God  with  power,  ac- 
cording to  the  Spirit  of  holiness,  by  the  resurrection 
from  the  dead,"  Rom.  i.  4 ;  so  "  if  we  have  been 
planted  together  in  the  likeness  of  his  death,  we  shall 
be  also  in  the  likeness  of  his  resurrection."  Rom.  vi.  5. 
How  this  doctrine  is  connected  with  Christ  and  with 
all  that  is  precious  in  the   hopes  of  believers,  Paul 


384  THE  RESURRECTION  OF  LIFE. 

declares :  "  Yea,  doubtless,  and  I  count  all  things  but 
loss  for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ 
Jesus  my  Lord :  for  whom  I  have  suffered  the  loss  of 
all  things,  and  do  count  them  but  dung,  that  I  may 
win  Christ,  and  be  found  in  him,  not  having  mine  own 
righteousness,  which  is  of  the  law,  but  that  which  is 
through  the  faith  of  Christ,  the  righteousness,  which 
is  of  God  by  faith  ;  that  I  may  know  him,  and  the 
power  of  his  resurrection,  and  the  fellowship  of  his 
sufferings,  being  made  conformable  unto  his  death  ;  if 
by  any  means  I  might  attain  unto  the  resurrection  of 
the  dead."  Phil.  iii.  8 — 11.  Is  it  not  enough  that 
Jesus  went  before  us,  that  he  is  risen  from  the  dead, 
become  the  first-fruits  of  them  that  slept,  and  given 
us  infallible  assurance  that  "  them  that  sleep  in  Jesus 
will  God  bring  with  him  ?"  1  Thess.  iv.  14.  So  it  is 
all,  all  through  Christ,  through  Christ  alone.  Match- 
less One ! ! ! 


CHAPTER  XLV. 


THE   FINAL   JUDGMENT. 


God  has  not  concealed  his  intention  of  bringing 
every  work  into  judgment,  with  every  secret  thing, 
whether  it  be  good,  or  whether  it  be  evil.  From  the 
earliest  ages  inspired  men  have  freely  and  clearly 
spoken  of  the  day  of  judgment.  Enoch,  who  was  the 
seventh  from  Adam,  and  all  of  whose  life  on  earth, 
except  the  last  twenty-two  years,  was  cotemporaneous 
with  that  of  Adam,  prophesied,  saying,  "  Behold,  the 
Lord  cometh  with  ten  thousand  of  his  saints,  to  exe- 
cute judgment  upon  all,  and  to  convince  all  that  are 
ungodly  among  them  of  their  ungodly  deeds,  which  they 
have  ungodly  committed,  and  of  all  their  hard  speeches, 
which  ungodly  sinners  have  spoken  against  them." 
Three  thousand  years  after  Enoch,  Jude  found  no 
fitter  words,  by  which  to  warn  daring  sinners  of  their 
coming  doom,  than  those  just  quoted  from  the  antedi- 
luvian prophet.  The  doctrine  of  a  judgment  is  a  fami- 
liar theme  among  inspired  writers  of  both  testaments. 
It  is  taught  in  the  law,  in  the  prophets,  in  the  psalms, 
in  the  gospels,  and  in  the  epistles.  It  was  so  well  un- 
derstood in  the  days  of  Christ  and  of  Paul,  that  they 
simply  call  it  "that  day"  thus  designating  it  as  the 
day  of  days,  "  the  day  for  which  all  other  days  were 
made,"  and  in  comparison  of  which  all  other  days  are 
as  nothing. 

33  (385) 


386  THE   FINAL  JUDGMENT. 

The  day  of  judgment  will  be  the  great  day.  So 
inspired  writers  often  and  properly  style  it.  It  will 
exceed  all  other  days  for  the  brightness  of  its  begin- 
ning. Other  days  had  their  dim  twilight,  but  this  will 
begin  in  ineffable  effulgence.  Their  light  was  from 
the  sun  ;  the  light  of  this  shall  be  from  Him  who  made 
all  things.  Other  days  dawn  with  general  quiet,  but 
this  shall  begin  with  great  and  unusual  noises.  "  Our 
God  shall  come,  and  shall  not  keep  silence ;  a  fire  shall 
devour  before  him,  and  it  shall  be  very  tempestuous 
round  about  him.  He  shall  call  to  the  heavens  from 
above,  and  to  the  earth,  that  he  may  judge  his  people." 
Jesus  shall  come  in  like  manner  as  he  went  up  on  high. 
"  The  Lord  himself  shall  descend  from  heaven  with  a 
shout,  with  the  voice  of  the  archangel,  and  with  the 
trump  of  God."  On  that  day  men  will  see  sights,  and 
hear  sounds,  unlike  all  that  ever  struck  their  senses 
before.  The  brightness  of  Immanuel's  coming  will 
extinguish  the  light  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  and  the 
sounds,  which  shall  be  heard,  shall  make  the  earth  reel 
and  stagger  like  a  drunken  man.  This  day  will  be 
crowded  full  of  wonders.  It  will  be  begun,  carried 
on,  and  closed  with  such  displays  of  miracles  as  the 
world  has  never  seen  before.  The  results  accomplished 
by  it  will  be  as  wonderful  as  the  progress  of  its  events. 
Every  way  of  God  to  man  shall  then  be  justified. 
All  wickedness  shall  be  put  down.  All  cavil  shall  be 
for  ever  silenced.  All  judgment  shall  then  be  exe- 
cuted. 

In  speaking  of  the  day  of  judgment  and  perdition 
of  ungodly  men,  Peter  says,  "  One  day  is  with  the 
Lord  as  a  thousand  years,  and  a  thousand  years  as  one 
day."     From  this  some  infer  that  the  judgment-day 


THE   FINAL  JUDGMENT.  387 

will  last  a  thousand  years.  This  may  be  a  mistaken 
conclusion,  but  that  day  will  last  long  enough  to  an- 
swer all  the  purposes  of  a  careful  and  universal  scru- 
tiny of  human  actions  and  characters.  If  this  day  be 
not  a  long  day,  it  will  be  because  God  will,  by  his  in- 
finite perfections,  make  a  few  hours  answer  all  the  ends 
of  a  portion  of  duration  equal  to  many  generations. 
He  can  vindicate  his  ways,  acquit  the  innocent,  con- 
demn the  guilty,  and  show  that  he  is  just  in  saving 
sinners,  without  any  of  those  slow  processes  to  which 
human  tribunals  are  subject.  Yet  there  is  a  general 
impression  that  the  day  of  judgment  will  commence 
at  midnight,  and  last  beyond  what  would  be  the  limits 
of  a  day  of  our  time.  The  word  day  in  Scripture 
often  designates  a  period  much  longer  than  twenty- 
four  hours.  The  day  of  judgment  will  last  long  enough 
to  answer  all  the  ends  of  God  in  appointing  it,  and 
this  is  enough  for  us  to  knotv.  The  rest  is  open  to 
conjecture. 

The  day  of  judgment  is  a  fay  fixed.  The  time  for 
it  is  set  by  God  himself.  "  He  hath  appointed  a  day, 
in  the  which  he  will  judge  the  world  in  righteousness, 
by  that  man  whom  he  hath  ordained."  To  God  that 
day  is  known,  to  us  it  is  unknown  ;  to  him  it  is  certain, 
to  us  it  is  doubtful.  "  Of  that  day  and  hour  knoweth 
no  man,  no,  not  the  angels  of  heaven,  but  my  Father 
only."  It  will  come  as  a  thief  in  the  night,  as  the 
flood  came  on  the  old  world,  as  the  tempest  of  wrath 
came  on  the  cities  of  the  plain  ;  yet  it  is  unchangeably 
determined  by  God.  Men  may  not  be  looking  for  it, 
but  God  sees  it  afar  off.  As  nothing  can  hasten  it, 
so  that  it  shall  come  before  God's  purposes  respecting 
the  world   are  accomplished,  so  nothing  can  delay  it 


388  THE   FINAL  JUDGMENT. 

one  moment  beyond  the  time  fixed  in  God's  eternal 
counsels  for  its  coming. 

Frequently  the  day  of  judgment  is  called  "  the  day 
of  the  Lord."  It  will  be  the  day  when  the  Lord 
Christ  shall  appear  in  glory,  display  the  wonders  of 
his  mediation  and  the  perfection  of  his  government, 
and  will  publicly  be  owned  and  crowned  as  Lord  of  all. 
There  will  be  no  disputes  concerning  the  divinity  of 
Christ,  on  or  after  the  day  of  judgment,  which  will  be 
Ms  day.  If  the  power  that  shall  work,  if  the  majesty 
that  shall  preside,  if  the  knowledge  that  shall  deter- 
mine, if  the  justice  that  shall  condemn,  if  the  mercy 
that  shall  spare  on  that  day  be  not  divine,  and  con- 
vincingly so,  it  will  be  of  no  use  to  try  to  learn  what 
is  so.  "  The  Father  judgeth  no  man,  but  has  com- 
mitted all  judgment  to  the  Son."  That  day  will  be 
the  day  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 

The  day  of  judgment  will  be  above  all  others  a  day 
of  convocation.  The  heavens  and  the  earth  shall  fur- 
nish the  assembly.  The  chariots  of  God,  which  are 
twenty  thousand,  shall  roll  down  the  skies,  bearing  in 
them  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand,  an  innumerable 
company  of  angels.  Fallen  angels  too  shall  be  there  ; 
and  them  that  sleep  in  Jesus  shall  God  bring  with  him. 
All  that  died  in  their  sins  shall  be  there ;  and  all  that 
are  alive  on  the  earth  shall  stand  before  God.  Not 
one  of  all  God's  rational  creatures  shall  be  missing. 
Prophets,  apostles,  martyrs,  confessors,  saints,  sinners, 
liars,  hypocrites,  infidels,  blasphemers,  haters  of  God, 
shall  all  be  present.  The  assizes  of  the  universe  shall 
then  be  held.  Millions  on  millions  shall  crowd  this 
greatest  of  all  congregations.  "  We  must  all  appear 
before  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ."     This  will  be  the 


THE    FINAL   JUDGMENT.  389 

first  and  the  last  gathering  of  all  the  denizens  of  the 
universe. 

The  day  of  judgment  will  be  one  of  unparalleled 
excitement.  There  will  be  no  listless  spectators  of 
those  scenes.  Men  have  fallen  asleep  at  a  marriage, 
at  a  funeral,  in  the  house  of  God,  and  in  the  chamber 
of  the  dying.  But  none  will  slumber  when  they  shall 
see  a  world  wrapped  in  flames,  a  universe  convened  for 
judgment,  and  the  Judge  on  the  great  white  throne. 
Every  eye  shall  see,  every  ear  shall  attend  to  Him, 
who  utters  the  words,  "  Come,  ye  blessed,"  "  Depart, 
ye  cursed."  Every  faculty  of  intelligence  and  of  feel- 
ing will  that  day  be  roused  to  the  highest  exercises  of 
which  it  is  capable.  Dreams,  fancies,  whims  and  wan- 
dering thoughts  attend  men  in  this  life,  but  in  that 
day  all  will  be  eagerness,  thought,  excitement. 

The  day  of  judgment  will  also  be  a  day  of  great 
surprise,  both  to  saints  and  sinners.  So  Christ  ex- 
pressly informs  us  :  "  Then  shall  the  righteous  answer 
him,  saying,  Lord,  when  saw  we  thee  an  hungered,  and 
fed  thee  ?  or  thirsty,  and  gave  thee  drink  ?  When  saw 
we  thee  a  stranger,  and  took  thee  in  ?  or  naked,  and 
clothed  thee  ?  Or,  when  saw  we  thee  sick,  or  in  pri- 
son, and  came  unto  thee  ?"  In  like  manner  also  shall 
the  wicked  say  unto  him,  "  Lord,  when  saw  we  thee 
an  hungered,  or  athirst,  or  a  stranger,  or  naked,  or 
sick,  or  in  prison,  and  did  not  minister  unto  thee  ?" 
If  the  sentences  of  the  just  and  unjust  were  reversed 
at  the  day  of  judgment,  the  surprise  would  not  be  half 
so  great.  Jesus  said :  "  Many  will  say  unto  me  in 
that  day,  Lord,  Lord,  have  we  not  prophesied  in  thy 
name  ?  and  in  thy  name  have  cast  out  devils  ?  and  in 
thy  name  done  many  wonderful  works  ?  And  then 
33* 


390  THE   FINAL  JUDGMENT. 

will  I  profess  unto  them,  I  never  knew  you ;  depart 
from  me,  ye  that  work  iniquity."  Many  will  be  saved, 
and  many  will  be  lost  contrary  to  the  judgments 
formed  of  them  by  their  neighbours.  But  more  will 
be  saved,  and  more  will  be  lost  contrary  to  the  opin- 
ions they  had  of  themselves.  Christians  will  wonder 
that  they  are  saved,  and  Jiotv  they  are  saved,  and  they 
will  wonder  that  they  should  be  commended  for  deeds 
full  of  imperfection.  The  wicked  will  be  amazed  that 
they  are  lost,  and  how  they  are  lost,  and  especially 
that  God  puts  no  value  upon  their  self-righteousness. 
The  sons  of  God  will  receive  more  honour  than  they 
ever  thought  of  claiming ;  while  the  wicked  will  find 
their  hopes  perishing  one  by  one,  and  their  lamp  going 
out  in  obscure  darkness.  Christians  will  wonder  why 
they  should  be  saved.  Sinners  will  wonder  why  they 
should  not  be  saved.  The  latter  will  ask,  "  What  have 
we  done?"  The  former  will  say,  "  What  have  we  not 
done?"  The  sinner  says  he  does  the  best  he  can. 
The  righteous  says,  "Behold,  I  am  vile." 

Many  doubts,  mysteries  and  perplexities  will  be  fully 
and  for  ever  removed  in  that  great  day.  Things, 
which  in  this  life  were  full  of  grievous  darkness,  will 
be  then  satisfactorily  cleared  up.  God's  providence, 
which  is  now  accompanied  by  a  thousand  inexplicable 
things,  will  then  be  made  plain.  Now  the  wicked  are 
exalted  ;  then  they  shall  be  brought  down  to  hell.  Now 
the  righteous  are  forsaken,  afflicted,  tormented ;  then 
the  Lord  will  bring  forth  their  righteousness  as  the 
light,  and  their  judgment  as  the  noonday.  That  day 
will  wipe  off  all  aspersions  from  the  innocent,  and  fix 
guilt  where  it  belongs,  though  never  suspected  before. 
God's  truth,  wisdom,  holiness,  justice,  and  mercy  will 


THE   FINAL  JUDGMENT.  391 

shine  brighter  than  the  sun  on  that  day.  The  slan- 
dered, injured  and  abused  will  then  be  vindicated  ; 
and  the  oppressed  will  rise  up  and  clank  the  chains, 
with  which  tyrants  had  bound  them,  to  the  eternal  con- 
fusion of  wrong-doers.  Many  a  righteous  man,  judi- 
cially murdered,  will  then  face  his  corrupt  judge  with 
the  suborned  witnesses  and  perjured  jurors  who  were 
at  his  trial.  There  will  be  a  wonderful  clearing  up  on 
that  day. 

It  will  also  be  a  day  of  exposure.  "  Some  men's 
sins  are  open  beforehand,  going  before  to  judgment, 
and  some  they  follow  after."  The  fraud,  cunning, 
hypocrisy,  and  deceit  of  wicked  men  will  then  appear. 
All  those  dark  designs  and  plots,  which  meditated  ruin 
to  individuals,  distress  to  families,  perplexity  to  nations, 
or  dishonour  to  God,  shall  be  held  up  to  reprobation. 
The  light  of  that  day  will  shine  through  and  through 
the  thickest  web  of  iniquity,  and  show  all  its  foul  in- 
tricacies. 

This  will  also  be  a  day  of  decision.  In  this  world 
appeals  are  often  taken  from  lower  to  higher  courts, 
from  the  judgment  of  cotemporaries  to  that  of  poste- 
rity, and  from  the  judgment  of  man  to  that  of  God. 
But  the  tribunal  of  Christ  is  the  court  of  the  last  re- 
sort. From  his  decision  there  lies  no  appeal.  On 
that  day,  causes  and  destinies  will  not  merely  be  in- 
quired into ;  they  will  be  decided.  Thenceforward 
for  ever,  the  law  will  be,  "  He  that  is  unjust,  let  him 
be  unjust  still ;  and  he  which  is  filthy,  let  him  be  filthy 
still ;  and  he  that  is  righteous,  let  him  be  righteous 
still ;  and  he  that  is  holy,  let  him  be  holy  still."  No- 
thing can  reverse,  nor  arrest  the  judgments  of  that 
day.     Nothing  can   alter  or  vary  the  decree  of  the 


392  THE   FINAL   JUDGMENT. 

Judge.  It  shall  stand  for  ever.  The  judgment  of  the 
great  day  is  called  the  "eternal  judgment,"  because 
it  will  be  irrevocable  and  everlasting  in  its  effects.  It 
■will  bind  for  ever. 

The  day  of  judgment  will  also  be  a  day  of  separa- 
tions. Here  saints  and  sinners  are  strangely  mixed 
together.  There  it  will  be  very  different.  Christ 
says  :  "  Let  both  tares  and  wheat  grow  together  until 
the  harvest ;  and  in  the  time  of  harvest,  I  will  say  to 
the  reapers,  Gather  ye  together  first  the  tares,  and 
bind  them  in  bundles  to  burn  them ;  but  gather  the 
wheat  into  my  barn."  "When  the  Son  of  Man  shall 
come  in  his  glory,  and  all  his  holy  angels  with  him, 
then  shall  he  sit  upon  the  throne  of  his  glory :  and 
before  him  shall  be  gathered  all  nations :  and  he  shall 
separate  them  one  from  another,  as  a  shepherd  divideth 
his  sheep  from  the  goats ;  and  he  shall  set  the  sheep 
on  his  right  hand,  but  the  goats  on  his  left."  This 
separation  shall  be  final.  The  righteous  and  the  wicked 
shall  that  day  part  to  meet  no  more. 

To  Christ,  his  saints  and  angels,  the  day  of  judg- 
ment will  be  a  day  of  triumph.  The  Lord  will  then 
make  a  show  of  his  enemies  openly.  They  that  would 
not  kiss  the  Son,  shall  be  dashed  in  pieces  like  a  pot- 
ter's vessel.  In  his  triumph,  all  his  saints  and  angels 
shall  share  and  glory. 

To  the  wicked  the  same  day  will  be  full  of  despair. 
They  will  cry  to  the  rocks  and  to  the  mountains  : 
"  Fall  on  us  and  cover  us  from  the  face  of  him  that 
sitteth  on  the  throne,  and  from  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb ; 
for  the  great  day  of  his  wrath  is  come,  and  who  shall 
be  able  to  stand  ?"  Was  more  dreadful  despair  ever 
portrayed  ? 


THE  FINAL  JUDGMENT.  393 

The  day  of  judgment  will  be  the  last  day.  So  Christ 
calls  it.  So  inspired  writers  often  teach.  After  it, 
"time  shall  be  no  longer."  No  more  shall  duration 
be  measured  by  the  alternations  of  day  and  night,  or 
of  the  seasons ;  and  there  shall  be  no  succession  of 
seconds,  minutes,  hours,  days,  months,  or  years  as  now. 
All  beyond  the  judgment-day  is  boundless,  fathomless 
eternity.  This  last  day  will  leave  an  ineffaceable  im- 
pression on  all  minds.  None  will  ever  forget  what 
they  shall  have  seen,  and  heard,  and  felt  on  that  day. 
The  great  days  of  earth  may  fade  from  the  memories 
of  saints  and  sinners,  but  this  last  great  day  shall 
never,  never,  never  perish  from  the  recollection  of 
any. 

It  may  well  be  doubted  whether  any  man  thinks  as 
much  as  he  should  of  the  judgment-day.  Justin  Martyr 
said,  "I  seem  always  to  be  hearing  these  words  :  Awake 
ye  dead  and  come  to  judgment."  A  modern  writer 
speaking  of  the  same  day  says :  "It  would  seem  as  if 
Christ  was  always  thinking  of  it.  How  frequently  he 
speaks  of  it,  and  never  but  with  the  deepest  solemnity." 
The  apostles  seem  to  have  had  everything  associated 
with  it. 

"  Seeing  then  that  all  these  things  shall  be  dissolved, 
what  manner  of  persons  ought  ye  to  be  in  all  holy 
conversation  and  godliness,  looking  for  and  hasting 
unto  the  coming  of  the  day  of  God,  wherein  the  hea- 
vens being  on  fire  shall  be  dissolved,  and  the  elements 
shall  melt  with  fervent  heat." 

Reader,  are  you  prepared  for  your  last  account? 
Have  you  made  peace  with  God  through  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ?  Is  all  your  hope  in  the  precious  blood  and 
righteousness  of  Jesus  Christ  ?     Nothing  of  your  own 


394  THE   FINAL   JUDGMENT. 

can  save  you  in  that  day.  It  will  burn  as  an  oven. 
It  will  try  your  works  and  your  hopes  as  by  fire.  If 
you  have  built  on  Christ,  and  on  him  only,  then  hold 
fast  your  confidence,  which  hath  great  recompense  of 
reward. 

But  if  you  are  yet  in  your  sins,  then  be  persuaded 
to  "  flee  for  refuge  to  the  hope  set  before  you  in  the 
gospel."  "  He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  hath  ever- 
lasting life ;  and-  he  that  believeth  not  the  Son  shall 
not  see  life,  but  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him." 
Nor  can  you  be  in  too  much  haste,  or  too  much  in 
earnest,  in  this  weighty  matter.  It  is  your  life.  "  Be- 
hold, the  Judge  standeth  before  the  door."  And  he 
says  :  "  Behold,  I  come  quickly,  and  my  reward  is  with 
me,  to  give  every  man  according  to  his  work." 

If  you  are  out  of  Christ,  you  are  unreconciled  to 
God.  There  are  three  classes  of  controversy.  The 
first  is  where  neither  party  has  done  any  wrong,  but 
the  whole  contest  has  arisen  from  mistake.  In  this 
case,  all  that  is  required  to  settle  the  difficulty  is  light 
and  explanation.  This  is  not  the  nature  of  God's  con- 
troversy with  us.  We  may  have,  yea,  we  doubtless 
have  often  misapprehended  his  character,  and  will, 
and  rights ;  but  when  we  have  understood  them,  we 
were  more  than  ever  averse  to  them.  And  God  had 
never  misunderstood  us.  He  knows  that  we  cordially 
hate  him.  Reconciliation  by  explanation  is  here  im- 
possible. A  second  kind  of  controversy  is  where  both 
parties  have  done  wrong,  and  of  course  both  have  suf- 
fered wrong.  Here  must  be  mutual  acknowledgment, 
concession  and  reparation.  But  God  has  never  wronged 
us.  He  has  never  demanded  too  much.  He  has  never 
been   a   hard   master.     His   precepts   concerning  all 


THE  FINAL  JUDGMENT.  395 

things  are  right,  and  every  just  man  thinks  so,  and 
says  so.  We  can  never  be  reconciled  in  this  way. 
The  third  kind  of  controversy  is  where  all  the  fault 
and  blame  are  on  one  side,  the  other  party  having  been 
wholly  innocent  and  fully  right  in  every  particular. 
This  is  the  nature  of  God's  controversy  with  us.  We 
have  sinned  much,  long,  wantonly,  stubbornly,  hei- 
nously. We  are  all  dead  men,  dead  in  trespasses  and 
sins.  If  we  wash  ourselves  with  snow-water,  and 
make  us  never  so  clean,  yet  he  will  plunge  us  in 
the  ditch,  and  our  own  clothes  shall  abhor  us.  All 
our  righteousnesses  are  as  filthy  rags.  "God  be 
merciful  to  me  a  sinner,"  is  always  an  appropriate 
prayer. 

Salvation  by  grace  is  every  way  suited  to  your  case. 
You  are  a  criminal.  I  have  heard  of  one,  who  had 
broken  the  law.  His  soul  was  guilty.  His  fears  went 
like  iron  into  his  soul.  He  was  arrested  and  held  "  in 
strong  prison."  His  case  grew  darker  every  day.  No 
way  of  escape  seemed  possible.  The  day  of  trial  came. 
The  testimony  was  clear.  There  was  no  room  for  fair 
argument  in  his  favour.  The  verdict  was,  "  Guilty." 
The  sentence  followed.  The  day  of  execution  came. 
He  was  led  forth  in  chains.  His  spirit  was  crushed. 
Dry  sorrow  had  drunk  up  his  blood  and  spirits ;  not  a 
tear  did  he  shed.  The  green  fields,  the  blue  heavens, 
the  hoary  mountains,  and  the  crystal  streams  had  all 
faded  from  his  mind.  He  thought  as  though  he  thought 
not.  Some  said  he  was  hardened,  some  thought  his 
mind  wandered.  All  pitied  him  but  himself.  He  said 
his  sentence  was  just. 

At  that  moment  a  cry  was  heard,  "  Open  the  way, 
and  let  the  officer  of  the  government  pass."  An  avenue 


396  THE   FINAL  JUDGMENT. 

is  cleared,  and  as  soon  closes.  With  quick  step  the 
new-comer  ascends  the  scaffold,  and  hands  the  sheriff 
a  paper  duly  signed  and  sealed.  It  is  a  pardon.  In 
a  proper  way  the  sheriff  reads  to  the  guilty  man  his 
release  from  the  penalty.  His  tears  begin  to  flow,  he 
utters  a  few  broken  sentences,  his  bosom  heave3,  it 
seems  to  him  like  a  dream,  he  fears  there  is  some  mis- 
take, he  looks  at  the  signature  and  seal.  Surprise, 
gratitude,  and  abundant  tears  of  joy  mark  the  man 
who  seemed  just  now  to  be  past  feeling.  He  is  alive 
again.  The  sun  shines  in  beauty,  and  nature  seems  to 
rejoice  all  around  him. 

But  how  came  that  pardon  ?  It  was  obtained  at  the 
intercession  of  one  whom  he  had  always  avoided  and 
often  contemned.  Can  he  slight  him  again  ?  No  ;  he 
will  search  till  he  finds  him,  he  will  confess  his  past 
errors,  he  will  express  his  thanks  not  once,  but  a  thou- 
sand times.  He  will  speak  lightly  of  him  no  more. 
He  will  rise  at  midnight  to  serve  him. 

So  is  the  case  of  the  sinner  saved  by  the  blood,  and 
righteousness,  and  intercession  of  Christ.  He  admires 
the  Saviour.  He  calls  him  Lord.  His  heart  melts 
whenever  he  thinks  of  his  goodness  towards  him.  His 
gratitude  begets  obedience,  and  he  knows  no  Re- 
deemer but  one.  He  owns  none  else,  he  desires  none 
else.  Thus  "  the  goodness  of  God  leadeth  to  repent- 
ance." 

There  are  some  things  of  unparalleled  interest  in 
this  final  judgment.  One  is  the  glory  which  shall  then 
be  revealed  in  us.  "  In  this  life  God  treats  and  ac- 
knowledges us  as  his  children,  he  clothes  us  with  the 
righteousness  of  his  Son,  feeds  us  with  his  word,  de- 
fends us  from  our  spiritual  enemies;  but  the  most 


THE  FINAL  JUDGMENT.  397 

public  declaration  of  his  favour  shall  be  in  the  next 
life,  when  all  '  the  children  of  the  resurrection'  shall 
be  born  in  a  day.  Add  further,  although  the  souls  of 
believers  immediately  upon  their  separation  are  re- 
ceived into  heaven,  and  during  the  sleep  of  death 
enjoy  admirable  visions  of  glory;  yet  their  blessed- 
ness is  imperfect,  in  comparison  of  that  excellent  de- 
gree, which  shall  be  enjoyed  at  the  resurrection.  As 
the  Roman  generals,  after  a  complete  conquest,  first 
entered  the  city  privately,  and  having  obtained  license 
of  the  Senate,  made  their  triumphant  entry  with  all 
the  magnificence  and  splendour  becoming  the  great- 
ness of  their  victories  :  so  after  a  faithful  Christian 
' hath  fought  the  good  fight,'  and  is  come  off  'more 
than  a  conqueror,'  he  enters  privately  the  celestial 
city;  but  when  the  body  is  raised  to  immortality, 
he  shall  then,  in  the  company  and  with  the  accla- 
mations of  the  holy  angels,  Tiave  a  glorious  entry 
into  it." 

Another  matter  of  interest  in  that  day  will  be  the 
display  of  mercy  and  grace  then  made.  So  Paul 
teaches :  "  The  Lord  give  mercy  unto  the  house  of 
Onesiphorus ;  for  he  oft  refreshed  me,  and  was  not 
ashamed  of  my  chain ;  but,  when  he  was  in  Rome, 
he  sought  me  out  very  diligently,  and  found  me.  The 
Lord  grant  unto  him  that  he  may  find  mercy  of  the 
Lord  in  that  day."  There  will  indeed  be  wonderful 
exhibitions  of  justice,  terrible  manifestations  of  wrath, 
but  stupendous  displays  of  mercy.  Who  of  us  will 
not  then  need  mercy  ? 

To  some  minds  the  greatest  wonder  of  the  last  day 
will  be  the  composure  and  calmness  with  which  that 
day  will  be  met  by  the  righteous.  John  says,  "  Our 
34 


398  THE   FINAL  JUDGMENT. 

love  is  made  perfect,  that  we  may  have  boldness  in 
the  day  of  judgment.''  I  never  should  have  thought 
of  boldness  at  such  a  time,  but  that  I  find  it  in  God's 
word.  It  is  attained  by  love  to  Him,  who  on  that 
day  will  be  our  advocate,  the  Lord  our  righteous- 
ness. 


CHAPTER  XLVI 


ETERNAL   GLORY. 


The  Judgment  shall  be  immediately  succeeded  by 
amazing  bliss  and  glory.  In  this  heavenly  happiness 
the  entire  persons  of  the  saints  shall  partake.  This  is 
the  hope,  the  desire  and  the  inheritance  of  all  true 
Christians.  They  are  heirs  of  salvation,  heirs  accord- 
ing to  the  hope  of  eternal  life,  heirs  according  to  the 
promise,  heirs  of  righteousness  by  faith,  heirs  of  the 
grace  of  life,  heirs  of  the  kingdom,  heirs  of  God  and 
joint-heirs  with  Jesus  Christ.  The  indwelling  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  is  "  the  earnest  of  our  inheritance."  Pre- 
sent sufferings  for  Christ's  sake  are  sure  pledges  of 
our  winning  the  kingdom.  "If  we  suffer  with  him, 
we  shall  also  reign  with  him."  Our  calling  to  be 
saints  is  a  token  of  our  share  in  coming  glory.  "  God 
hath  called  us  to  his  kingdom  and  glory."  Our  con- 
formity to  God  is  a  sign  that  cannot  be  mistaken. 
"  The  Father  hath  made  us  meet  to  be  partakers  of 
the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light."  Our  justifica- 
tion proves  the  same.  "  They  which  receive  abun- 
dance of  grace  and  of  the  gift  of  righteousness,  shall 
reign  in  life  by  Jesus  Christ."  The  Lord  Jesus  has  so 
ordained.  "  I  appoint  unto  you  a  kingdom,  even  as 
my  Father  hath  appointed  unto  me ;  that  ye  may  eat 
and  drink  at  my  table  in  my  kingdom."  They  inherit 
everlasting  life,  a  kingdom  prepared  for  them  from  the 

(399) 


400  ETERNAL  GLORY. 

foundation  of  the  world.     "He  that  overcometh  shall 
inherit  all  things,  and  I  will  make  him  my  son." 

There  is  a  very  pleasing  variety  in  the  modes  of 
presenting  heavenly  things  to  our  conceptions.  At 
one  time  in  view  of  the  greatness  of  the  way  heaven 
is  called  a  rest.  Again  it  is  styled  a  crown,  a  king- 
dom, an  inheritance,  glory,  honour,  immortality, 
eternal  life,  a  house  not  made  with  hands,  our  Father's- 
house,  an  heavenly  temple,  Mount  Zion,  the  new  hea- 
vens, the  new  Jerusalem.  By  selecting  a  great  variety 
of  the  best  and  most  excellent  things  known  on  earth, 
and  yet  showing  no  steadfast  attachment  to  any  one 
form  of  speech,  the  inspired  writers  leave  us  to  infer 
that  their  clearest  representations  are  but  faint  em- 
blems of  celestial  bliss.  Indeed  they  seem  at  a  great 
loss  for  words  to  express  their  own  conceptions  on  the 
subject.  What  two  things  are  more  unlike  than  gold 
and  pure  glass  ?  One  is  transparent,  the  other  opaque. 
One  is  colourless,  the  other  yellow.  One  is  brittle, 
the  other  may  be  hammered  to  the  thinnest  leaf.  One 
is  a  human  fabric,  the  other  cannot  be  made  by  man. 
And  yet  John  says,  "  The  city  was  pure  gold,  like  unto 
clear  glass."  Indeed,  "eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear 
heard,  neither  have  entered  into  the  heart  of  man,  the 
things  which  God  hath  prepared  for  them  that  love 
him."  Two  persons  admitted  within  the  walls  of  the 
celestial  city  have  returned  to  dwell  on  earth.  One 
was  Lazarus  of  Bethany,  the  brother  of  Mary  and 
Martha.  Whether  he  ever  told  his  friends  anything 
of  what  he  had  seen  and  heard  in  the  invisible  world, 
we  have  no  means  of  knowing.  Tradition  says  that 
after  his  return  to  life  he  never  seemed  deeply  inter- 
ested in  worldly  affairs,  and  ascribes  this  change  in 


ETERNAL  GLORY.  401 

him  to  the  visions  of  glory,  which  he  had  enjoyed. 
The  other  was  Paul,  who  was  caught  up  into  Paradise, 
into  the  third  heavens.  Yet  his  account  is  short  and 
chiefly  negative  :  "  I  heard  unspeakable  words,  which 
it  is  not  lawful  for  a  man  to  utter."  This  is  his  whole 
narrative.  Angels  have  often  visited  our  world,  but 
even  when  they  have  assumed  a  human  form  and  con- 
versed with  men,  none  of  them  ever  attempted  a  de- 
scription of  the  world  of  light,  from  which  they  came. 
Inspired  men  sometimes  speak  on  the  subject,  but  com- 
monly in  language  highly  figurative.  Thus  John  tells 
us  that  the  walls  of  the  celestial  city  are  fifteen  hun- 
dred miles  on  each  of  its  four  sides,  and  as  high  as 
they  are  long.  Is  he  giving  us  the  exact  dimensions 
of  the  great  capital  of  God's  dominions  ?  or  does  he 
merely  design  to  convey  to  our  minds  conceptions  of 
vastness  and  magnificence  quite  beyond  the  scale  of 
anything  known  on  earth  ?  John  says  expressly,  "  It 
doth  not  yet  appear  what  we  shall  be."  Paul  also 
says :  "  We  know  in  part,  and  we  prophesy  in  part. 
But  when  that  which  is  perfect  is  come,  then  that 
which  is  in  part  shall  be  done  away.  When  I  was  a 
child  I  spake  as  a  child,  I  understood  as  a  child,  I 
thought  as  a  child ;  but  when  I  became  a  man,  I  put 
away  childish  things.  For  now  we  see  through  a 
glass  darkly ;  but  then  face  to  face ;  now  I  know  in 
part;  but  then  shall  I  know  even  as  I  am  known." 
1  Cor.  xiii.  9 — 12.  The  saints  in  light  probably  in  an 
hour  gain  more  just  and  adequate  and  satisfying  know- 
ledge of  that  upper  world,  than  the  ablest  divines  have 
acquired  in  a  long  life-time  of  reading  and  meditation. 
As  carnal  men  have  very  vague  and  erroneous  concep- 
tions of  what  it  is  to  be  born  again,  so  the  best  men 
34* 


402  ETERNAL  GLORY. 

on  earth  know  but  little  of  what  it  is  to  be  born  into 
glory. 

To  prepare  for  this  eternal  glory  is  the  great  busi- 
ness of  life.  Nothing  is  wiser  than  to  make  everything 
subordinate  to  the  attainment  of  a  crown  of  righteous- 
ness. To  have  the  least  fitness  for  heaven  is  an  un- 
speakable blessing ;  and  "  to  be  rich  in  grace  is  the 
sure  pledge  that  we  shall  be  rich  in  glory."  Indeed 
glory  is  grace  completed,  crowned,  triumphant.  There 
vast  and  accurate  knowledge  shall  feed  the  immortal 
mind.  "  We  shall  know  even  as  we  are  known." 
"  The  works  and  government  of  God  will  ever  afford 
themes  of  inquiry,  reflection  and  wonder."  Under  in- 
fallible guidance  the  mind  of  man  can  make  hitherto 
unthought-of  advances  in  knowledge. 

The  heavenly  world  is  full  of  love,  not  of  idle  pre- 
tences and  hollow  professions,  but  of  pure,  holy  affec- 
tions. If  in  this  world  all  men  were  as  benevolent  and 
condescending  as  some  are,  how  happy  men  would  be ! 
Yet  in  the  best  of  men  on  earth  love  is  imperfect. 
Not  so  in  heaven.  There  God,  who  is  Love,  reigns 
for  ever.  There  Christ,  who  is  full  of  divine  compas- 
sion and  gentleness,  sits  on  the  Mediatorial  throne. 
There  the  love  of  the  Spirit  warms  all  hearts.  The 
Seraphim  are  burning  ones,  because  their  natures  are 
all  on  fire  with  pure,  kind,  grateful,  complacential  and 
benevolent  affections.  There  the  spirits  of  just  men 
are  made  perfect  in  love.  There  is  no  lack  of  friend- 
ship in  that  exalted  society.  The  company  is  select, 
being  made  up  of  God's  elect.  The  whole  body  of 
the  redeemed  are  there  publicly  married  to  Christ. 
The  great  attraction  of  heaven  is  the  glorified  person 
of  Jesus  Christ.     "  The  Lamb  is  the  light  thereof." 


ETERNAL  GLORY.  403 

"  We  shall  be  ever  with  the  Lord."  "  He  that  sitteth 
on  the  throne  shall  dwell  among  them."  Even  in  this 
world  Christ  is  the  delight  of  the  sons  of  men.  In 
viewing  his  character  and  love  that  great  patriot  and 
preacher,  John  Welch,  exclaimed :  "  0  love  of  love ! 
0  the  height,  and  the  depth,  and  the  breadth,  and  the 
length  of  that  love  of  thine,  which  passeth  knowledge ! 
0  uncreated  love  !  Beginning  without  beginning,  and 
ending  without  end  !  Thou  art  my  glory,  my  joy,  my 
gain,  my  crown.  Thou  hast  set  me  under  thy  shadow 
with  great  delight,  and  thy  fruit  is  sweet  to  my  taste. 
Thou  hast  brought  me  into  thy  banqueting-house,  and 
placed  me  in  thy  orchard.  Stay  me  with  thy  flagons, 
and  comfort  me  with  thine  apples :  for  I  am  sick,  and 
my  soul  is  wounded  with  thy  love."  If  such  elevations 
of  the  affections  can  be  attained  here,  what  will  not 
heavenly  love  be  ? 

Heaven  is  also  the  abode  of  joy.  "  Well  done,  good 
and  faithful  servant,  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy 
Lord."  It  is  called  the  joy  of  the  Lord,  because  the 
Lord  has  prepared  our  bliss  for  us,  and  because  he 
himself  is  the  object  chiefly  enjoyed.  "In  thy  pre- 
sence is  fulness  of  joy,  and  at  thy  right  hand  are  plea- 
sures for  evermore."  Here  our  greatest  joys  are  short- 
lived, imperfect  and  unsatisfying.  Nothing  continues. 
All  is  unsettled  and  easily  marred.  There  all  is  stable 
as  eternity.  Here  ills  in  armies  beset  us.  There  sor- 
rows cease,  sickness,  sadness  and  sighing  flee  away, 
bereavement  never  desolates,  tears  never  flow,  tem- 
pests never  rage,  temptations  never  vex,  want,  war, 
and  death  never  enter,  rust  never  corrupts,  thieves 
never  steal,  days  of  weariness  and  nights  of  vanity  are 
for  ever  unknown,  sin  never  defiles,  and  peace  reigns 


404  ETERNAL  GLORY. 

unbroken.  There  "  the  wicked  cease  from  troubling, 
and  the  weary  are  at  rest."  "  There  is  no  darkness 
there ;  for  the  Lord  God  giveth  them  light,  and  the 
Lamb  is  the  light  thereof."  The  people  that  dwell 
there  shall  be  forgiven  their  iniquity.  They  shall 
hunger  no  more,  neither  thirst  any  more.  There  are 
no  discords,  tumults,  or  enmities  there.  The  employ- 
ments never  fatigue,  never  disgust,  are  never  drivel- 
ling. Satiety  is  unknown.  There  is  no  dulness 
among  the  redeemed.  The  cruel  mockings  of  earth 
shall  be  followed  by  kind  congratulations  and  songs  of 
deliverance.  The  eternal  anthem  is,  u  Unto  him  that 
loved  us,  and  washed  us  from  our  sins  in  his  own 
blood,  and  hath  made  us  kings  and  priests  unto  God 
and  his  Father ;  to  him  be  glory  and  dominion  for 
ever  and  ever.  Amen."  If  we  are  believers,  heaven  is 
just  before  us.  "  It  is  strange  that  a  subject  of  grace 
should  be  so  reluctant  to  become  a  subject  of  glory." 
Who  would  not  wish  to 

"Burst  from  the  thraldom  of  encumbering  clay, 
And  spring  to  liberty,  and  light,  and  life  V 

The  most  difficult  part  of  salvation  is  at  the  first ; 
but  the  most  fruitful  part  of  salvation  is  at  the  last. 
The  choicest  portion  of  every  Christian's  existence  is 
before  him.  Nature  is  inferior  to  grace,  and  nature  and 
grace  are  both  inferior  to  glory.  (t  The  sons  of  God 
have  much'  in  hand  and  more  in  hope."  The  sights 
seen,  the  sounds  heard,  and  the  emotions  felt  in  heaven 
are  peculiar  to  that  blessed  abode ;  and  all  is  durable 
as  the  throne  of  God.  All  flows  from  the  bounty 
of  an  infinite  God  and  Saviour.  The  grace  of  Christ 
in  heaven  displays  its  richest  fruits  to  the  rapturous 
gaze  and  boundless  admiration  of  all  holy  creatures. 


ETERNAL  GLORY.  405 

Could  we  but  believe  what  God  has  spoken  on  this 
blessed  theme,  we  might  each  say : 

"  Farewell,  vain  world ;  my  soul  can  bid  adieu ; 
My  Saviour  taught  me  to  abandon  you. 
Your  charms  may  gratify  a  sensual  mind, 
But  cannot  please  a  soul  for  God  inclined. 
Forbear  t'  entice,  cease  then  my  soul  to  call : 
'Tis  fixed  through  grace  ;  my  God  shall  be  my  all. 
While  he  thus  lets  me  heavenly  glories  view, 
Your  beauties  fade,  my  heart 's  no  room  for  you." 

The  alleluiahs  of  the  hosts  above  are  as  the  sound 
of  many  waters  and  of  mighty  thunderings.  Their 
songs  are  of  victory.  They  all  have  palms  in  their 
hands  and  are  harping  with  their  harps. 

How  near  heaven  may  be  none  on  earth  can  tell. 
The  hill  of  Zion,  the  mount  of  God,  the  temple  not 
made  with  hands,  are  often  hard  by,  when  we  think 
them  far  distant.  At  all  times  we  may  say  to  God's 
people,  "  Now  is  your  salvation  nearer  than  when  ye 
believed."  Many  of  the  saints  daily  arrive  at  their 
long  sought  home.  The  doves  will  all  find  their  win- 
dows. "  To  be  content  to  stay  always  in  this  world  is 
above  the  obedience  of  angels."  In  all  ages  the  saints 
have  longed  and  fainted  for  an  entrance  into  the  upper 
sanctuary.  Often  have  they  cried,  "  0  Lord,  how 
long?"  The  prayer  of  one  long  since  gathered  to  his 
people,  well  suits  multitudes  :  "Lord,  gather  me  with 
thy  flock :  they  are  fast  a-gathering ;  the  church's 
Head  is  gone ;  he  has  left  the  earth  and  entered  into 
his  glory  ;  my  brethren  and  friends  many  of  them  have 
arrived  where  he  is  ;  I  am  yet  behind.  0  how  great 
is  the  difference  between  my  state  and  theirs.  I  am 
groaning  out  my  complaint ;  they  are  singing  God's 


406  ETERNAL  GLORY. 

praise ;  I  sit  in  darkness  and  cannot  see  thy  face,  but 
they  behold  thee  face  to  face.  0  should  I  be  satisfied 
to  stay  behind,  when  my  friends  are  gone  ?  Shall  I 
wander  here  in  a  hungry  desert,  when  they  are  tri- 
umphing above,  and  dividing  the  spoils  ?"  Let  men 
think  much  of  heavenly  glory.  Let  them  seek  that 
city,  which  hath  foundations,  whose  Maker  and  Builder 
is  God.  "  He,  who  seldom  thinks  of  heaven,  is  not 
likely  to  get  there.  The  only  sure  way  to  hit  the  mark 
is  to  keep  the  eye  steadily  fixed  upon  it."  Men  go  not 
to  that  blessed  land  without  desiring  it,  intending  it, 
forsaking  all  for  it.  If  you  love  not  to  think  of  hea- 
ven, while  you  live,  you  will  not  love  to  be  in  heaven 
when  you  die.  It  is  not  wicked  to  long  for  the  day 
when  we  shall  enter  into  rest,  provided  there  be  no 
self-will  or  impatience  indulged.  How  can  it  be  sinful 
for  us  to  wish  to  see  the  Lord  ? 

Would  you  make  sure  of  heaven  ?  Make  sure  of 
an  interest  in  Christ  by  faith.  Would  you  be  a  par- 
taker of  his  glory,  then  accept  his  grace.  The  celes- 
tial gates  will  be  open  to  all  such  as  are  by  God's 
Spirit  fitted  for  the  joys  of  paradise.  None  can  be 
thus  prepared  but  such  as  know  Jesus  Christ,  and  the 
power  of  his  resurrection,  who  have  made  a  covenant 
with  him  by  sacrifice,  and  fled  to  him  for  refuge.  Je- 
sus  Christ  is  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life. 


CHAPTER    XLVII. 


ALL  HONOUR  IS  DUE  TO  CHRIST. 

If  these  things  be  so,  then  we  should  study  to  mag- 
nify Christ,  both  in  life  and  in  death.  He  is  the  Sa- 
viour ;  and  such  a  Saviour  !  He  is  mighty  to  redeem 
and  strong  to  deliver.  The  law  came  by  Moses,  but 
grace  and  truth  by  Jesus  Christ.  He  counted  it 
not  robbery  to  be  equal  with  God,  yet  made  himself 
of  no  reputation.  It  is  therefore  just  that  he  should 
have  a  name  above  every  name :  that  at  the  name  of 
Jesus  every  knee  should  bow,  of  things  in  heaven,  and 
things  in  earth,  and  things  under  the  earth ;  and  that 
every  tongue  should  confess  that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord, 
to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father.  He  lays  his  hand 
upon  both  God  and  man.  He  has  at  once  an  almighty 
arm  and  a  brother's  heart.  None  is  more  exalted,  yet 
none  stoops  so  low.  None  is  mightier,  yet  none  is 
more  tender.  He  shall  not  break  the  bruised  reed,  nor 
quench  the  smoking  flax.  He  shall  not  fail,  nor  be 
discouraged,  till  he  set  judgment  in  the  earth.  He 
shall  drink  of  the  brook  in  the  way ;  therefore  shall 
he  lift  up  the  head.  He  is  meek  and  lowly,  merciful 
and  mild ;  at  the  same  time  he  is  the  Son  of  God  with 
power.  There  is  none  like  Jesus.  Our  Beloved  is 
more  than  any  other  beloved.     He  alone  can  do  sin- 

(407) 


408  ALL  HONOUR  IS  DUE  TO  CHRIST. 

ners  good.  His  blood  atones.  His  obedience  to  the 
precept  of  the  law  is  a  perfect  righteousness.  His  in- 
tercession is  all  prevalent  and  unspeakably  glorious. 
This  part  of  his  work  is  still  going  on.  It  is  a  per- 
petual fruit  of  his  love.  We  are  deeply  interested  in 
it.  Gurnall  says :  "  Suppose  a  king's  son  should  get 
out  of  a  besieged  city,  and  leave  behind  his  wife  and 
children,  whom  he  loves  as  his  own  soul ;  would  this 
prince,  when  arrived  at  his  father's  palace,  delight 
himself  with  the  splendour  of  the  court,  and  forget 
his  family  in  distress  ?  No ;  he  would  come  post  to 
his  father,  and  entreat  him,  as  ever  he  loved  him,  that 
he  would  send  all  the  force  of  his  kingdom  to  raise  the 
siege,  and  save  his  dear  relations  from  perishing.  Nor 
will  Christ,  though  gone  up  from  the  world,  and  as- 
cended into  his  glory,  forget  his  children  for  a  moment, 
that  are  left  behind  him."  He  ever  liveth  to  make 
intercession  for  them.  Him  the  Father  heareth 
alway. 

He  is  Prophet,  Priest  and  King.  He  is  made  of  God 
unto  us  wisdom,  righteousness,  sanctification  and  re- 
demption. By  his  Spirit  he  enlightens,  purifies  and 
comforts  the  heart.  His  word  cannot  be  broken. 
His  power  cannot  be  resisted.  The  law  of  heavenly 
kindness  is  in  his  heart.  The  covenant  of  his  peace 
shall  stand.  Great  is  his  faithfulness.  He  is  both 
God  and  man.  Some  one  has  said  :  "  A  mere  man,  by 
himself  alone,  could  as  little  redeem  a  world  as  he 
could  create  one ;  and  though  God  by  himself  alone 
can  doubtless  create,  uphold  and  govern  the  world  ; 
yet,  in  order  to  redeem  it,  the  union  of  the  two  divided 
parts  is  necessary,  and  a  voluntary  satisfaction  for  sin 
is  required,  which  he  alone  can  make,  who  at  the  same 


ALL  HONOUR  IS  DUE  TO  CHRIST.  409 

time  stands  above  the  law  and  under  the  law."  Who 
could  see  any  fitness  in  a  Saviour,  who  was  not  both 
God  and  man  in  one  person  for  ever  ?  Such  an  one 
is  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  One  of  the  ancients  thought 
that  he  had  been  made  solely  for  the  purpose  of  ad- 
miring the  sun.  But,  believing  soul,  thou  hast  been 
made  a  Christian,  that  thou  mightest  admire  Christ. 
His  name  is  Wonderful.  I  cannot  tell  thee  in  what 
he  is  most  excellent.  "  I  find  no  fault  in  him,"  in 
either  of  his  offices,  or  in  either  of  his  natures,  in  his 
work,  or  in  his  sufferings,  in  his  humiliation,  or  in  his 
exaltation.  In  him  dwell  all  excellencies,  human  and 
divine.  He  is  full  of  grace  and  truth.  His  glory  is 
that  of  the  only-begotten  of  the  Father.  There  is 
none  like  him,  no,  not  one.  He  is  the  chiefest  among 
ten  thousand  and  altogether  lovely.  As  the  apple- 
tree  among  the  trees  of  the  wood,  so  is  our  Beloved 
among  the  sons  of  men.  Wherever  he  is  there  is  hea- 
ven. Redemption  by  his  blood,  salvation  by  his  grace 
will  justly  be  celebrated  for  ever.  It  should  be  highly 
and  often  spoken  of  in  the  church  militant.  This 
theme  will  be  ever  welcome  to  the  holy,  because  it  is 
infinite,  and  because  it  will  ever  be  developing  new 
wonders  and  glories.  In  the  conduct  of  some  of  his 
professed  people  nothing  is  more  incongruous,  nothing 
awakens  such  doubts  of  their  interest  in  his  salvation, 
as  their  want  of  sentiments  of  glowing  love  to  him  and 
to  his  cause.  By  him  alone  can  bond  or  free,  Jew  or 
Gentile,  Greek  or  barbarian  be  saved.  For  such  kind- 
ness as  his  it  does  not  suffice  that  thankfulness  be 
owned  as  a  duty.  If  Christ  had  merely  cherished 
some  secret  pity  for  us,  and  never  expressed  it,  silence 
on  our  part  would  not  be  so  bad.  But  he  loved  us 
35 


410  ALL  HONOUR  IS  DUE  TO  CHRIST. 

openly.  He  loved  us  unto  death.  Never  attempt  to 
divide  the  honours  which  are  due  to  him  alone.  An- 
gels are  indeed  sent  forth  to  minister  to  them,  who 
shall  be  heirs  of  salvation,  but  they  are  not  our  sa- 
viours. The  instrument  of  our  salvation  man  may  be, 
but  God  alone  is  its  Author .  Beware  of  sacrificing  to 
your  own  net,  and  burning  incense  to  your  own  drag. 
Left  to  yourself,  you  are  neither  wise,  nor  strong,  nor 
prudent,  nor  holy,  nor  diligent,  nor  safe. 

Praise  and  magnify  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  for  of 
him,  and  from  him,  and  by  him,  and  through  him,  and 
to  him  are  all  things.  Praise  him  on  the  Sabbath,  for 
since  his  resurrection  it  is  "the  Lord's  day."  Praise 
him  the  whole  week,  for  his  mercies  flow  down  con- 
tinually. Praise  him  at  night,  for  his  goodness  runs 
through  the  day.  Praise  him  in  the  morning,  for  those 
who  seek  him  early  shall  find  him.  Praise  him  at 
midnight,  for  at  that  hour  David  gave  thanks.  Praise 
him  seven  times  a-day,  for  every  day  he  fills  you  with 
food  and  gladness.  Praise  him  in  sickness  and  in 
health,  in  joy  and  in  sorrow,  in  life  and  in  death. 
Crown  him  with  songs,  for  he  crowns  the  year  with  his 
goodness.  Let  his  praise  be  continually  in  your 
mouth.  Praise  him  the  more  when  others  maintain 
silence,  or  murmur  against  him,  and  blaspheme  his 
holy  name.  Let  their  failure  to  do  their  duty  arouse 
you  to  do  yours.  Whoever  is  found  among  the  impi- 
ous or  profane,  do  you  be  numbered  with  the  grate- 
ful. Would  you  make  your  burdens  light?  Extol 
the  Son  of  God.  That  night  cannot  be  very  dark,  in 
which  he  "giveth  songs."  Who  would  not  magnify 
and  honour  such  a  Saviour  ?  His  works  of  creation 
praise  him,  and  shall  not  his  works  of  redemption 


ALL  HONOUR  IS  DUE  TO  CHRIST.  411 

bless  him  ?  His  angels,  his  hosts,  the  sun  and  moon, 
the  stars  of  light,  the  heaven  of  heavens,  the  water 
above  the  heavens,  the  dragons  and  all  deeps,  fire  and 
hail,  snowy  vapours,  stormy  wind  fulfilling  his  word, 
mountains  and  all  hills,  fruitful  trees  and  all  cedars, 
beasts  and  all  cattle,  creeping  things  and  flying  fowl, 
do  praise  him.  Their  voice  is  gone  out  to  the  ends  of 
the  world.  Shall  these  all  in  their  way  praise  him, 
and  shall  his  people  keep  silence  ?  Saints  owe  him  a 
debt  of  gratitude  for  existence,  for  reason,  for  immor- 
tality ;  but  for  his  grace  they  owe  him  a  song  that 
should  never  end.  To  say  nothing  against  him  at  the 
best  evinces  a  very  low  grade  of  virtue.  To  have  a 
disposition  to  praise  him  and  to  suppress  it  is  not 
enough.  Let  the  feeling  be  indulged,  let  the  song  be 
sung,  let  the  shout  be  uttered.  Let  all  the  saints  cry, 
Hosanna  to  the  Son  of  David,  let  them  laud  him  say- 
ing, Alleluiah.  He  that  hath  a  praising  heart  hath  a 
continual  feast.     Praise  him  in  the  highest. 

If  saved,  this  shall  be  our  work  when  the  sun  and 
moon  shall  be  gone  for  ever.  In  the  temple  above 
they  sing  a  new  song,  saying,  Thou  art  worthy  :  for 
thou  wast  slain,  and  hast  redeemed  us  to  God  by  thy 
blood  out  of  every  kindred,  and  tongue,  and  people, 
and  nation ;  and  hast  made  us  unto  our  God  kings  and 
priests.  "  And  I  beheld,"  says  one  who  saw,  u  and  I 
heard  the  voice  of  many  angels  round  about  the 
throne,  and  the  beasts,  and  the  elders ;  and  the  num- 
ber of  them  was  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand,  and 
thousands  of  thousands :  saying  with  a  loud  voice, 
"Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  was  slain  to  receive  power, 
and  riches,  and  wisdom,  and  strength,  and  honour, 
and  glory,  and  blessing.     And  every  creature,  which 


412  ALL  HONOUR  IS  DUE  TO  CHRIST. 

is  in  heaven,  and  on  the  earth,  and  under  the  earth, 
and  such  as  are  in  the  sea,  and  all  that  are  in  them, 
heard  I  saying,  Blessing,  and  honour,  and  glory,  and 
power,  be  unto  him  that  sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and 
unto  the  Lamb  for  ever  and  ever.  And  the  four  beasts 
said,  Amen.  And  the  four  and  twenty  elders  fell 
down  and  worshipped  him  that  liveth  for  ever  and 
ever."  Who,  who  would  not  join  this  grandest  chorus 
of  the  universe  ?  If  creation  praises  its  Maker,  shall 
not  the  new  creation  magnify  its  Author  ?  He  is  the 
Alpha  and  the  Omega,  the  First  and  the  Last,  the 
Author  and  Finisher  of  our  faith.  He  is  Christ  the 
Lord.  Jehovah  says :  "  Whoso  offereth  praise  glori- 
fieth  me."  Often  does  he  bind  us  by  the  most  solemn 
commands  to  do  this  duty.  Hear  his  words :  "  Give 
unto  the  Lord,  ye  kindreds  of  the  people,  give  unto  the 
Lord  glory  and  strength."  "  Give  unto  the  Lord  the 
glory  due  unto  his  name:  come  before  him,  worship 
the  Lord  in  the  beauty  of  holiness."  "Ye  that  fear 
the  Lord  praise  him  ;  all  the  seed  of  Jacob  glorify 
him."  These  are  but  samples  of  his  authoritative 
teachings.  In  accordance  with  them  let  us  ever  say, 
"Not  unto  us,  0  Lord,  not  unto  us,  but  unto  thy  name 
give  glory,  for  thy  mercy  and  for  thy  truth's  sake." 
"  Unto  him  be  glory  in  the  Church  by  Jesus  Christ, 
throughout  all  ages,  world  without  end."  "To  God 
only  wise  be  glory,  through  Jesus  Christ,  for  ever. 
Amen."  Let  us  not  be  offended  at  doxologies  to 
Christ.  None  but  his  enemies  dislike  to  hear  him 
praised  by  hosannas  in  the  highest.  "When  the 
chief-priests  and  scribes  saw  the  wonderful  things 
that  he  did,  and  the  children  crying  in  the  tem- 
ple,   saying,    Hosanna   to   the    Son   of  David,    they 


ALL  HONOUR  IS  DUE  TO  CHRIST.  413 

were  sore  displeased."  Matt  xxi.  11,  15.  Be  not 
like  these  surly  old  hypocrites,  but  like  those  little 
children  out  of  whose  mouths  he  perfected  praise. 
Do  as  Pliny  says  the  early  Christians  did,  and 
"sing  a  hymn  to  Jesus  Christ  as  God,"  as  your  Sa- 
viour and  your  eternal  portion. 

35* 


CHAPTER    XLVIII 


CHRISTIANS  LONG  TO  SEE  CHRIST. 

Sinners,  saved  by  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  greatly  love  his  person,  and  long  to  see  him, 
and  to  be  filled  with  his  fulness-  He  that  has  seen  the 
Son,  has  seen  the  Father.  He  is  the  brightness  of  the 
Father's  glory,  and  the  express  image  of  his  person. 
Yet  his  divinity  is  so  veiled  by  his  flesh  that  we  fear 
not  to  come  near  him.  Formerly  many  denied  the 
proper  humanity  of  Christ,  but  now  the  attack  is  against 
his  divinity.  Both  are  fundamental.  If  he  is  not  the 
true  God,  he  is  not  eternal  life.  His  humanity  makes 
him  most  approachable. 

Till  God  in  human  flesh  I  see, 
My  thoughts  no  comfort  find ; 
The  holy,  just  and  sacred  Three 
Are  terrors  to  my  mind. 

Jesus  is  the  source  of  all  hope,  and  joy,  and  peace, 
and  life,  and  comfort  to  the  pious.  Therefore  they 
love  him,  and  long  to  be  with  him,  that  they  may  be- 
hold his  glory,  which  he  had  with  the  Father  before 
the  world  was. 

In  this  life  the  saints  look  to  the  Saviour  by  faith ; 

in  the  next  they  behold  him  by  immediate  vision.    Here 

they  see  him  through  a  glass  darkly ;  there  they  see 

him  face  to  face.    The  stronger  their  faith,  the  clearer 

(414) 


CHRISTIANS  LONG  TO  SEE  CHRIST.  415 

the  view  they  here  have  of  him.  Sometimes  a  sight 
of  him  even  through  a  glass,  is  wonderful,  and  makes 
the  soul  like  the  chariots  of  Amminadib.  Such  a  sight 
has  often  made  God's  people  welcome  whips,  and  chains, 
and  dungeons,  and  death.  But  the  vision  of  him  in 
the  next  world  will  transcend  all  human  conceptions. 
There  he  is  not  only  glorious  as  on  the  mount  of  trans- 
figuration ;  but  he  is  as  gentle,  as  kind,  as  tender  as 
when  he  wept  at  the  grave  of  Lazarus,  gave  eyes  to  the 
blind,  and  feet  to  the  lame,  or  granted  mercy  to  a 
wretch  hanging  by  his  side.  True,  he  weeps  no  more, 
but  his  present  kindness  soothes  every  sorrow  in  the 
hearts  of  his  "hidden  ones."  Yea,  his  hand  wipes  all 
tears  from  their  faces.  Even  the  old  disciple  who 
groaned  out  his  sixty  years  on  earth,  and  the  little 
infant  redeemed  by  his  blood,  though  it  wept  out  its 
week  of  life,  shall  sigh  no  more  for  ever.  His  glory 
and  his  tenderness  expel  all  sadness,  bar  all  sorrows. 

Here  his  people  behold  him  in  their  closets.  While 
they  sit  alone  and  keep  silence,  he  speaks  comfortably 
to  them,  he  puts  in  his  hand  by  the  hole  of  the  door. 
Jesus  reveals  himself  to  those  who  love  secret  devotion. 
He  visits  where  his  flocks  rest  at  noon.  Would  you 
have  clear  views  of  Jesus  ?  Lay  aside  your  worldliness, 
enter  into  your  chamber,  and  shut  your  door  about  you. 
If  you  but  mingle  with  the  crowd,  you  may  look  in  vain 
for  soul-transforming  views  of  the  Redeemer.  Blessed 
Saviour,  why  is  my  heart  so  slow  to  seek  thee  in  soli- 
tude ?  "While  the  King  sitteth  at  his  table,  my  spike- 
nard sendeth  forth  the  smell  thereof."  I  must  seek 
him  more.  I  will  hearken  unto  him,  and  walk  in  his 
ways ;  then  he  will  soon  subdue  my  enemies,  then  shall 
he  feed  me  with  the  finest  of  the  wheat,  and  with 


416  CHRISTIANS  LONG  TO  SEE  CHRIST. 

honey  out  of  the  rock  shall  he  satisfy  me.  Lord,  in- 
crease my  faith. 

It  is  also  well  to  ascend  the  mount  of  ordinances, 
that  we  may  see  him  in  his  beauty  and  glory.  There 
he  is  held  in  his  galleries.  There  he  often  manifests 
himself  in  the  breaking  of  bread.  In  the  songs  of  Zion, 
in  public  prayers,  in  gospel  preaching,  how  gloriously 
does  Christ  often  come  and  make  his  abode  with  his 
people,  and  fill  their  hearts  with  joy  and  peace! 
"  Blessed  are  they  that  dwell  in  thy  house ;  they  will 
be  still  praising  thee.  *  *  A  day  in  thy  courts  is  better 
than  a  thousand.  I  had  rather  be  a  door-keeper  in  the 
house  of  my  God,  than  to  dwell  in  the  tents  of  wicked- 
ness." Often  do  his  saints  go  down  from  his  house, 
satisfied  as  with  marrow  and  fatness,  when  some  word 
in  season,  borne  to  their  hearts  by  the  blessed  Spirit, 
has  been  spoken  by  the  servant  of  Christ. 

Many  get  pleasant  views  of  Christ  in  the  valley  of 
humiliation,  which  flows  with  wholesome  waters,  abounds 
with  precious  fruits,  and  is  the  constant  resort  of  our 
souls'  Beloved.  Some  of  the  sights  there  seen,  such 
as  the  evil  of  sin  and  the  wickedness  of  our  own  hearts, 
are  not  pleasant ;  but  these  make  a  sight  of  Jesus  the 
more  ravishing.  Every  child  of  God  finds  great  trea- 
sure in  this  valley.  Some  have  thought  it  better  than 
the  mount  of  transfiguration,  and  would  gladly  abide 
there  all  their  days ;  for  there  they  see  Jesus  as  they 
never  see  him  anywhere  else.  The  place  suits  them 
well. 

We  often  get  a  blessed  view  of  our  Saviour,  when 
we  are  in  the  furnace  of  affliction.  Sometimes  its  heat 
is  intense;  but  the  hotter,  the  better,  if  Jesus  be 
with  us,  and  our  faith  fail  not.     When  the  furnace  of 


CHRISTIANS  LONG  TO  SEE  CHRIST.  417 

Nebuchadnezzar  was  made  seven  times  hotter  than 
usual,  and  the  three  faithful  Hebrews  were  cast  into  it, 
there  was  one  seen  walking  with  them,  and  "his  form 
was  like  unto  the  Son  of  God."  Many  Christians 
declare  that  they  never  saw  happier  days  than  when 
adversity  pressed  hard  upon  them.  This  is  just  what 
Jesus  promised  :  "  I  will  not  leave  you  comfortless :  I 
will  come  to  you."  John  xiv.  12. 

But  the  brightest  vision  of  Christ  will  be  when  "  we 
shall  see  him  as  he  is."  The  sight  of  husband,  wife, 
child,  parent,  friend,  or  lover,  never  was  so  gladsome 
as  the  sight  of  the  Saviour  shall  be.  Blessed  vision  ! 
The  righteous  long  for  it.  To  be  with  Christ,  and  like 
Christ,  and  to  behold  his  glory,  will  constitute  the 
heaven  for  which  they  hope.  Though  I  should  never 
see  another  pleasant  sight  in  this  world,  may  I  at  last 
behold  that  blessed  face,  which  was  buffeted  for  me. 
Once  his  visage  was  so  marred  more  than  any  man, 
and  his  form  more  than  the  sons  of  men.  But  when 
Paul  saw  him  on  the  way  to  Damascus,  he  shined  with 
a  light,  "  above  the  brightness  of  the  sun."  And  when 
John  saw  him,  he  fell  at  his  feet  as  dead  ;  but  he  laid 
his  hand  upon  him,  saying,  "  Fear  not ;  I  am  the  first, 
and  the  last ;  I  am  he  that  liveth,  and  was  dead,  and 
behold  I  am  alive  for  evermore,  Amen ;  and  have  the 
keys  of  hell  and  of  death."  Rev.  i.  17, 18.  Lord  Jesus, 
help  me,  intercede  for  me,  comfort  me,  forsake  me  not, 
but  bring  me  to  behold  thy  face  in  righteousness. 

All  these  blessed  visions  are  by  the  grace  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  He  is  our  Lord,  our  Governor,  our 
King.  "  One  is  your  Master,  even  Christ."  "  Ye  call 
me  Master  and  Lord,  and  ye  say  well;  for  so  I  am." 
"  Other  lords  have  had  dominion  over  us ;  but  by  thee 


418  CHRISTIANS  LONG  TO  SEE  CHRIST.       . 

only  will  we  make  mention  of  thy  name."  Like  Thomas 
let  us  ever  say,  "  My  Lord  and  my  God  !"  If  we  really 
feel  that  he  is  our  Master,  and  we  his  disciples ;  our 
Lord,  and  we  his  servants;  we  shall  walk  as  he  walked, 
we  shall  delight  in  his  authority  over  us,  we  shall  be 
happy  in  doing  and  suffering  his  holy  will. 

He  is  also  Jesus,  which  is  the  proper  name  of  our 
Saviour.  No  name  was  ever  more  appropriate.  Joshua 
was  a  saviour,  and  so  were  many  others  ;  but  they 
were  so  only  as  instruments,  while  he  is  the  author  of 
salvation.  Their  deliverances  were  temporal  and  poli- 
tical.    His  salvation  is  spiritual  and  everlasting. 

Our  Lord  Jesus  is  Christ.  The  Hebrew  word,  Mes- 
siah, and  the  Greek  word,  Christ,  both  signify  anointed. 
Christ  was  the  Lord's  anointed  in  the  highest  sense. 
He  had  the  oil  of  gladness  poured  upon  him  above  all 
his  fellows.  Thus  we  read  in  that  beautiful  narrative 
in  Luke  iv.  14 — 22  :  "  And  Jesus  returned  in  the  power 
of  the  Spirit  into  Galilee  ;  and  there  went  out  a  fame 
of  him  through  all  the  region  round  about.  And  he 
taught  in  their  synagogues,  being  glorified  of  all.  And 
he  came  to  Nazareth,  where  he  had  been  brought  up ; 
and,  as  his  custom  was,  he  went  into  the  synagogue  on 
the  Sabbath-day,  and  stood  up  for  to  read.  And  there 
was  given  him  the  book  of  the  prophet  Esaias.  And 
when  he  had  opened  the  book,  he  found  the  place, 
where  it  was  written,  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  God  is 
upon  me,  because  he  hath  anointed  me  to  preach  the 
gospel  to  the  poor  ;  he  hath  sent  me  to  heal  the  broken- 
hearted, to  preach  deliverance  to  the  captives,  and  re- 
covering of  sight  to  the  blind,  to  set  at  liberty  them 
that  are  bruised,  to  preach  the  acceptable  year  of  the 
Lord.     And  he  closed  the  book,  and  he  gave  it  again 


CHRISTIANS  LONG  TO  SEE  CHRIST.  419 

to  the  minister,  and  sat  down.  And  the  eyes  of  all 
them  that  were  in  the  synagogue  were  fastened  on  him. 
And  he  began  to  say  unto  them,  This  day  is  this  Scrip- 
ture fulfilled  in  your  ears.  And  all  bare  him  witness, 
and  wondered  at  the  gracious  words  which  proceeded 
out  of  his  mouth."  This  settles  the  fact,  and  points 
out  the  manner  of  his  anointing.  God  the  Father 
poured  upon  our  Lord  Jesus  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  thus 
he  became  the  Christ  of  God.  Well  might  Peter  say 
at  the  Council  at  Jerusalem,  "  We  believe  that  through 
the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  we  shall  be  saved 
even  as  they."  "  The  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ" 
is  a  phrase  that  occurs  in  the  New  Testament  more 
than  a  dozen  times,  and  always  in  a  manner  well  suited 
to  affect  our  hearts.  Ten  times  it  occurs  in  the  form 
of  a  benediction  :  "  The  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  be  with  you,"  or  "with  your  spirit,"  or  "  with 
you  all."  The  text  where  it  is  mentioned  most  at 
length  is  found  in  2  Cor.  viii.  9  :  "  Ye  know  the  grace 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  though  he  was  rich,  yet 
for  your  sakes  he  became  poor,  that  ye  through  his 
poverty  might  be  rich."  There  is  the  whole  Gospel  in 
epitome.  The  rich  became  poor,  that  the  poor  might 
become  rich.  Who  would  not  wish  to  see  this  blessed 
Lord  Jesus  Christ? 

When  the  celebrated  Lord  Duplessis  of  France  was 
dying,  he  said:  "Away,  away  with  all  merit;  I  call 
for  nothing  but  mercy,  free  mercy."  When  secretly 
praying,  he  was  heard  to  say,  "  I  fly,  I  fly  to  heaven. 
Let  the  angels  carry  me  to  the  bosom  of  my  Saviour." 
Again  he  said,  "  I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth, 
and  I  shall  see  him  with  these  eyes,"  and  so  he  went 
to  the  Saviour. 


420  CHRISTIANS  LONG  TO  SEE  CHRIST. 

When  near  his  end,  Payson  said :  "  I  have  done 
nothing  myself.  I  have  not  fought,  but  Christ  has 
fought  for  me ;  I  have  not  run,  but  Christ  has  carried 
me  ;  I  have  not  worked,  but  Christ  has  wrought  in  me. 
Christ  has  done  all."  Who  would  not  wish  to  see 
such  a  friend,  such  a  Saviour ! 


CHAPTER  XLIX. 


THE  DANGER  OF  REJECTING  SALVATION. 

One  of  the  most  solemn  appeals  ever  made  is  that 
of  Paul:  "How  shall  we  escape,  if  we  neglect  so 
great  salvation  ?"  The  peril  of  despising  the  grace  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  extreme  and  awful.  Some 
commit  this  sin  secretly,  others  openly,  some  through 
ignorance,  others  knowingly,  some  with  daring  blasphe- 
my, others  with  trembling ;  but  all  through  unbelief. 
A  late  writer  holds  this  language  :  "  A  meaning  far 
different  from  the  historical  definition  of  divines  is 
currently  given  to  the  word  salvation ;  a  word,  how- 
ever, which,  after  every  softening,  is  not  sincerely 
congenial  with  the  highest  religion  of  the  time.  Its 
direct  opposition  to  damnation  is  very  much  lost,  and 
instead  of  denoting  mere  rescue  from  a  penal  doom,  it 
is  accepted  as  an  expression  for  personal  union  with 
God,  spiritual  perjectness  of  character :  or  without 
reference  to  any  penal  alternative,  the  simple  attain- 
ment of  a  blessed  and  immortal  state.''  More  error 
and  misrepresentation  are  seldom  found  in  so  short  a 
sentence.  For  what  church  ever  taught  that  salvation 
is  "mere  rescue  from  a  penal  doom  ?"  God's  people 
are,  indeed,  "  saved  from  wrath,"  and  a  great  deliver- 
ance is  thus  vouchsafed  to  them.  By  the  grace  of 
Christ  they  do  "  escape  the  damnation  of  hell."  But 
he,  who  rescues  them  from  a  just  and  fiery  indignation, 
36  (421) 


422  THE  DANGER  OF  REJECTING  SALVATION. 

also  clothes  them  with  righteousness,  makes  them  par- 
takers of  the  divine  nature,  restores  to  them  the  lost 
image  of  God,  fits  them  for  the  companionship  of 
angels,  and  receives  them  to  glory.  "  The  attainment 
of  a  blessed  and  immortal  state"  is  no  less  a  part  of 
the  salvation  secured  by  Jesus  Christ,  than  is  u  rescue 
from  a  penal  doom.'' 

But  still  it  seems  "  the  word  salvation,  after  every 
softening,  is  not  sincerely  congenial"  with  what  this 
writer  is  pleased  to  call  "  the  highest  religion  of  the 
time."  The  highest  religion  !  Is  there  any  religion 
higher  than  that,  which  had  its  origin  in  heaven, 
"  which  at  the  first  began  to  be  spoken  by  the  Lord, 
and  was  confirmed  unto  us  by  them  that  heard  him  : 
God  also  bearing  them  witness,  both  with  signs  and 
wonders,  and  with  divers  miracles,  and  gifts  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  according  to  his  own  will  ?"  Is  there 
any  religion  above  that,  at  the  birth  of  whose  author 
"  a  multitude  of  the  heavenly  host  praised  God,  say- 
ing, Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  and  on  earth  peace, 
good  will  toward  men  ?"  What  religion  excels  that, 
which  takes  poor,  vile,  ignorant,  guilty,  helpless  sin- 
ners, and  raises  them  to  sonship  with  God,  and  -makes 
them  partakers  of  his  holiness  ?  If  this  writer  means 
to  say  that  there  is  a  system  of  religion  more  elevated 
than  that  revealed  in  the  Bible,  then  he  is  an  infidel, 
and  should  be  treated  as  such.  That  is,  he  ought  to 
be  instructed  in  the  evidences  of  Christianity.  In  the 
Scriptures  there  is  no  "  softening"  of  the  words  save, 
saved,  and  salvation.  They  occur  in  some  hundreds 
of  texts,  and  although  they  are  not  always,  yet  they 
are  often  used  in  the  highest  religious  sense,  both  in 
the  Old  and  New  Testaments.     Here  are  a  few  cases. 


THE  DANGER  OF  REJECTING  SALVATION.  423 

"  Save  thy  people,  and  bless  thine  inheritance  ;  feed 
them  also,  and  lift  them  up  for  ever."  Psa.  xxviii.  9. 
"  Thou  shalt  call  his  name  JESUS;  for  he  shall  save 
his  people  from  their  sins."  Matt.  i.  21.     "  The  Son 
of  man  is  come  to  seek  and  to  save   that  which  was 
lost."  Luke    xix.   10.  "It   is   a   faithful   saying,  and 
worthy  of  all  acceptation,  that  Christ  Jesus  came  into 
the  world   to  save  sinners,  of  whom   I   am  chief." 
1  Tim.  i.  15.     "  He  is  able  also  to  save  them  to  the 
uttermost,  that  come  unto  God  by  him."  Heb.  vii.  25. 
"  Israel  shall  be  saved  in  the  Lord  with  an  everlasting 
salvation."  Isa.  xlv.  17.    "Believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ   and   thou    shalt    be   saved."  Acts   xiv.    31. 
"  Thou  art  the  God  of  my  salvation."  Psa.  xxv.  5. 
"  God  hath  chosen  you  to  salvation."  2  Thess.  ii.  13. 
Many  other  texts  might  be  added,  but  these  are  suffi- 
cient.    Inspired  writers  and  converted  men  are  not 
shy  of  these  words.     They  love  them.     They  glory  in 
them.     Meantime  what  a  confession  does  our  author 
make  for  himself  and  for  a  class,  whom  he  represents. 
Their  religion  does  not  accord  with  even  the  terms  of 
the  Bible.     With  the  Romanist  and  Romanizer  baptism 
is  regeneration.     With  some,  sin  is  a  misfortune,  not 
a  crime ;  wrath  is  a  fiction,  hell  a  chimera,  damnation 
a  fancy,  and   even   salvation  a  dream.     How  slow 
are  men  in  learning  that  spiritual  things  are  spiritually 
discerned,  and  that  the  kingdom  of  heaven  can  be  en- 
tered by  none  but  little  children  !     "  The  state  of  the 
heart  has  the  chief  influence,  in  the  search  after  truth. 
Humility,   contrition,  simplicity,   sanctity — these   are 
the  handmaids  of  the  understanding  in  the  investigation 
of  religion."   The  pride  of  science,  the  flippancy  of  self- 
conceit,  the  arrogance  of  spiritual  ignorance  are  great 


424    THE  DANGER  OF  REJECTING  SALVATION. 

foes  to  learning  the  simple  truth.  To  all  who  are  wise 
in  their  own  eyes,  even  "  the  word  salvation  is  not 
sincerely  congenial." 

Its  "  direct  opposition  to  damnation''  is  clearly 
taught  in  Scripture,  as  in  Mark  xvi.  16.  "  He  that 
believeth  and  is  baptized,  shall  be  saved  ;  but  he  that 
believeth  not  shall  be  damned."  To  the  humble  such 
words  are  not  offensive.  They  love  the  truth.  But 
that  such  sounds  are  exceedingly  unwelcome  to  the 
ears  of  the  unregenerate,  every  preacher  of  right- 
eousness painfully  knows.  It  seems  to  be  impossible 
for  some  men  to  endure  sound  doctrine.  They  have 
no  congeniality  with  it,  no  taste  for  it,  yet  they  do  not 
all,  like  this  writer,  attack  both  the  doctrines  and  the 
very  words  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Let  such  remember 
who  it  is  that  has  said,  "  He  that  believeth  on  him,  is 
not  condemned  ;  but  he  that  believeth  not,  is  con- 
demned already,  because  he  hath  not  believed  in  the 
name  of  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God."  "  He  that 
believeth  on  the  Son  hath  everlasting  life  :  and  he 
that  believeth  not  the  Son,  shall  not  see  life ;  but  the 
wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him."  John  iii.  18,  36. 
Nay,  so  clear  is  the  evidence  of  the  truth  of  God's 
word,  that  men  who  refuse  to  receive  it  shall  still  be 
judged  by  it.  Christ  says  expressly,  "He  that  re- 
jecteth  me,  and  receiveth  not  my  words,  hath  one  that 
judgeth  him  :  the  words  that  I  have  spoken,  the  same 
shall  judge  him  in  the  last  day."  John  xii.  48. 

If  the  word  salvation  is  distasteful,  how  is  the  thing 
itself?  Do  men  of  this  school  have  any  sense  of  their 
lost  condition  ?  Admitting  human  innocence,  the  offer 
of  salvation  is  worse  than  idle ;  but  before  a  man  can 
rest  in  the  persuasion  that  he  is   without  sin,  and  not 


THE  DANGER  OF  REJECTING  SALVATION.  •       425 

under  wrath,  he  must  renounce  God's  word,  sear  his 
own  conscience,  and  be  fearfully  left  to  himself.  No 
man  more  needs  the  pity  and  prayers  of  his  neigh- 
bours, or  the  compassion  of  his  Maker,  than  he  who 
thinks  he  is  without  sin,  and  has  no  need  of  a  Saviour. 
Yet  there  certainly  is  a  class  of  men,  who  dislike  not 
only  damnation,  but  salvation,  not  only  wrath,  but 
grace,  not  only  the  divine  severity,  but  also  the  good- 
ness of  God.  A  conversion,  more  than  the  death  of 
a  sinner,  a  revival  of  religion  more  than  a  pestilence, 
seem  to  arouse  the  enmity  of  the  carnal  mind.  The 
practical  view  of  fallen  human  nature  presented  by 
such  persons  as  this  writer  is  appalling  proof  of  the 
blindness  and  wickedness  of  men.  When  a  starving 
man  is  too  proud  to  receive  bread,  when  a  man  bleed- 
ing to  death  rejects  the  aid  of  a  surgeon,  when  a 
drowning  man  refuses  the  rope,  that  is  thrown  him, 
there  is  in  each  case  folly  and  wilfulness ;  but  there 
is  no  such  madness,  no  such  perverseness,  as  when  a 
sinner  rejects  mercy,  grace,  salvation.  "  Ye  will  not 
come  to  me,  that  ye  might  have  life;"  "how  can  ye 
believe,  which  receive  honour  one  of  another,  and  seek 
not  the  honour  that  cometh  from  God  only?"  are 
among  the  kind  and  solemn  teachings  of  Christ  to 
those  who  refuse  his  grace. 

Converted  men  feel  very  differently  about  salvation. 
To  them  there  is  no  sweeter  word,  unless  it  is  the 
name  of  Jesus,  which  means  Saviour.  A  young  Hin- 
doo convert  when  dying,  said  to  his  attendant  : 
"Sing,  brother,  sing."  His  friend  said:  "  Of  what 
shall  I  sing  ?"  He  replied  ;  "  0  sing  of  salvation, 
sing  of  salvation."  Thousands  have  substantially  said 
the  same  thin?.     Thev  were  not  ashamed  of  the  testi- 

O  si 

36* 


426         THE  DANGER  OF  REJECTING  SALVATION. 

mony  of  our  Lord,  who  saved  them  and  called  them 
with  a  holy  calling,  not  according  to  their  works,  but 
according  to  his  own  purpose  and  grace,  which  was 
given  them  in  Christ  Jesus  before  the  world  began. 
Every  redeemed  sinner  loves  salvation,  loves  to  sing 
of  it  and  to  publish  it  abroad.  Where  is  the  Christian 
that  does  not  unite  in  this  song  ? 

Salvation,  0  salvation  ! 
The  joyful  sound  proclaim, 
Till  earth's  remotest  nation 
Has  learned  Messiah's  name. 

If  you  love  not  salvation,  you  love  not  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  and  will  be  accursed  when  he  cometh. 
He,  that  hates  salvation,  loves  death.  If  you  despise 
grace,  you  despise  your  own  mercies.  Prophets,  apos- 
tles, martyrs,  and  people  of  God  of  every  age  have 
not  ceased  to  proclaim,  and  upon  divine  authority  too, 
that  Christ  is  our  Life.  "  Neither  is  there  salvation  in 
any  other :  for  there  is  none  other  name  under  heaven, 
given  among  men,  whereby  we  must  be  saved."  Acts 
iv.  12.  And  how  dreadful  it  will  be  to  perish  with 
the  offer  of  mercy  pressed  upon  us  by  the  Lord  ! 
We  shall  die  without  remedy  because  we  shall  then 
have  sinned  against  the  only  remedy.  Inspired  writers 
seem  to  be  filled  with  horror,  whenever  they  contem- 
plate sinners  rejecting  salvation.  Hear  Paul :  "  He 
that  despised  Moses'  law,  died  without  mercy  under 
two  or  three  witnesses  :  of  how  much  sorer  punish- 
ment, suppose  ye,  shall  he  be  thought  worthy,  who 
hath  trodden  under  foot  the  Son  of  God,  and  hath 
counted  the  blood  of  the  covenant,  wherewith  he  was 
sanctified,  an  unholy  thing,  and  hath  done  despite  to 


THE  DANGER  OF  REJECTING  SALVATION.         427 

the  Spirit  of  grace?  For  we  know  him  that  hath 
said,  Vengeance  belongeth  unto  me,  I  will  recompense, 
saith  the  Lord.  And  again,  The  Lord  shall  judge 
his  people.  It  is  a  fearful  thing  to  fall  into  the 
hands  of  the  living  God."  Heb.  x.  28—31. 


CHAPTER   L 


THE  WONDERS  OF  GRACE  WILL   NEVER  CEASE. 

The  elder  President  Edwards  has  written  an  admi- 
rable work,  called  "The  History  of  Redemption." 
He,  who  shall  read  it,  will  be  well  rewarded.  But  in 
no  sense  will  the  history  of  redemption  be  complete 
till  the  last  of  the  elect  shall  be  called,  justified,  sancti- 
fied and  glorified.  And  in  the  highest  sense  that  his- 
tory will  never  be  finished,  for  redemption  will  for  ever 
be  evolving  new  objects  of  admiration  and  thanksgiv- 
ing. It  may  well  be  doubted  whether  all  the  books 
extant,  which  record  the  wonders  of  God's  love  in  the 
application  of  redemption  to  the  souls  of  men,  possess 
interest  and  variety  equal  to  the  rich  storehouse  of 
spiritual  knowledge,  which  would  be  opened  to  us,  if 
the  religious  experience  of  all  living  Christians  were 
perfectly  delineated.  Indeed  the  inward  life  of  every 
child  of  God  is  the  history  of  the  application  of  re- 
demption in  epitome.  What  heights  and  depths  of 
religious  experience  belong  to  every  generation  of  the 
people  of  God !  The  thief  on  the  cross  was,  doubtless, 
not  the  last  dying  culprit,  who  sought  and  found 
mercy.  Saul  of  Tarsus  was  not  the  last  blasphemer 
and  persecutor,  to  whom  the  Lord  sent  salvation. 
Manasseh  was  not  the  last  gray-headed  sinner  that  re- 
pented and  turned  to  the  Lord,  who  "  was  entreated 
(428) 


THE  WONDERS  OF  GRACE  WILL  NEVER  CEASE.     429 

of  him,  and  heard  his  supplication."  Scores  of  such 
are  living  in  every  Christian  nation,  proving  that  a 
man  can  be  born  again  when  he  is  old.  There  are 
now  living  and  may  be  seen  thousands  of  people,  who 
well  illustrate  the  patience  of  the  saints,  who  are  pat- 
terns of  meekness,  who  love  tenderly  and  strongly, 
who  constantly  lament  the  sins  of  their  times,  who  have 
learned  in  whatsoever  state  they  are  therewith  to  be 
content,  who  rejoice  in  tribulation,  who  bear  all  things, 
believe  all  things,  hope  all  things,  endure  all  things, 
and  yet  count  not  themselves  to  have  attained,  neither 
are  they  already  perfect,  but  they  are  striving  after 
higher  attainments,  and  pressing  forward  towards  the 
mark  for  the  prize  of  their  high  calling  in  Christ  Je- 
sus. It  is  great  kindness  in  God  to  give  to  the  world, 
in  the  persons  of  his  people  of  every  generation,  bright 
examples  of  virtuous,  happy  poverty,  of  cheerful  sub- 
mission in  affliction,  of  a  noble  spirit  of  self-sacrifice, 
of  great  gentleness  of  heart,  of  tenderness  of  con- 
science, and  of  the  true  fear  of  God,  so  undeniable 
that  even  men  of  the  world  see  and  reverence  the 
power  of  divine  grace.  God  also  from  age  to  age 
deals  with  much  patience  and  gentleness  towards  timid, 
feeble-minded,  humble  souls.  Out  of  the  mouths  of 
babes  and  sucklings  he  ordains  strength.  In  times  of 
vengeance  he  spares  his  people  "  as  a  man  spareth  his 
own  son  that  serveth  him  ;'?  he  comforts  them  as  a 
mother  comforteth  her  own  child ;  he  is  to  them  a  sun 
and  a  shield,  a  rock  of  defence  and  a  high  tower,  a 
refuge  and  a  present  help  in  time  of  trouble ;  from 
them  he  withholds  no  good  thing  ;  he  gives  them  peace 
in  believing ;  he  is  merciful  to  their  unrighteousness ; 
he  blots  out  their  sins  ;  he  loves  them  freely ;  he  ac- 


430     THE  WONDERS  OF  GRACE  WILL  NEVER  CEASE. 

cepts  them  graciously;  in  them   he   shows  what  his 
grace  can  still  do ;  to  them  he  fulfils  all  the  exceeding 
great  and  precious  promises  of  the  covenant.     The 
worm  Jacob   threshes  the  mountains.      God   evinces 
every  day  that  the  race  is  not  to  the   swift,  nor  the 
battle  to  the  strong.     By  his  grace  the  feeble  among 
the  saints  are  yet  as  David,  and  th§  house  of  David  as 
the   angel  of  God.     All  these  things  occur  from  age 
to  age  in  a  manner  so  striking  as  to  arrest  the  atten- 
tion of  all,  who  have  spiritual  discernment.     In  every 
generation  the  God  of  patience  grants  to  his  servants 
with  one  mind,  and  one  mouth  to  glorify  God,  even 
the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.     The  oath  of  the 
covenant,  the  blood  of  Jesus,  his  intercession  in  hea- 
ven, and  the  power  of  his  Spirit  achieve  these  wonders. 
God  is  unchangeable.     Jesus  Christ  is  the  same  yes- 
terday, to-day,  and  for  ever.     The  covenant  is  perpet- 
ual.    A  promise  made  to  a  believer  three  thousand 
years  ago  is  good  and  true  in  the  case  of  all  believers. 
"  Whatsoever    things    were   written    aforetime,  were 
written  for  our  learning,  that  we  through  patience  and 
comfort  of  the  Scriptures  might  have  hope." 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  chapters  in  the  history 
of  God's  church  has  been  furnished  by  modern  mis- 
sions to  the  heathen.  Wherever  the  gospel  is  preached 
and  takes  effect,  it  produces  marvellous  results.  A 
Hindoo  woman  applied  for  baptism.  The  servant  of 
Christ  told  her,  as  in  candor  he  was  bound  to  do,  what 
she  must  suffer,  the  loss  of  caste,  the  displeasure  of  her 
husband,  and  many  persecutions.  She  replied :  "  I 
know  all  this ;  I  considered  about  that  before  I  came  to 
you.  I  am  ready  and  willing  to  bear  it  all.  I  am 
ready  to  sacrifice  all  to  my  Lord.     Surely,  sir,  I  can- 


THE  WONDERS  OF  GRACE  WILL  NEVER  CEASE.     431 

not  endure  anything   in   comparison  to  what  he  suf- 
fered for  me." 

On  his  death-bed  John  Brown  of  Haddington  said  : 
"  Here  is  a  wonder — a  sinner  saved  by  the  blood  of 
God's  Son  !  There  are  wonders  in  heaven,  and  won- 
ders in  the  earth ;  but  the  least  part  of  redemption's 
work  is  more  wonderful  than  they  all." 


CHAPTER  LI 


THE  OFFERS  OF  FREE  GRACE  ARE  TO  ALL  INDISCRIMI- 
NATELY. 

It  is  always  right  and  obligatory  to  point  men  to 
Christ.    Eternal  life  by  the  Son  of  God  is  to  be  pressed 
upon  their  acceptance.     No  man  has  any  commission 
to  preach  the  gospel  except  one  that  bids  him  offer 
mercy  "  to  every  creature."   "  Whosoever  will"  is  scrip- 
tural language.     This  method  of  proclaiming  salvation 
suits  all  classes  of  men.     The  strong  believer  and  the 
timid  penitent  alike  draw  life  and  hope  from  Christ 
freely  offered.     "  Weak  souls  are  to  be  comforted  with 
Christ,  not  with  their  own  faith."     Even  a  young  be- 
liever may  look  to  Christ  until  his  heart  burns  within 
him,  and  he  shouts  for  joy;  but  let  any  man  look  stead- 
fastly at  his  own  weakness,  vileness,  guilt,  and  misery, 
and  not  get  a  glimpse  of  Christ  crucified,  and  hope  will 
die  within  him.     God  never  mocks  any  of  his  creatures. 
And  while  it  is  true  that  Jesus  Christ  died  with  the 
intention  of  saving  his  people,  and  none  others,  as  he 
himself  says,  "  I  lay  down  my  life  for  the  sheep  ;"  yet 
it  is  no  less  true  that  there  is  an  infinite  storehouse  of 
merit  in  Jesus  Christ.     It  is  also  certain  that  by  God's 
authority,  a  full  and  free  salvation  is  indiscriminately 
offered  to  sinners.     The  final  ruin  of  incorrigible  trans- 
gressors will  be  brought  about  by  their  unbelief,  not  by 
the  scantiness  of  the  provisions  of  the  gospel ;  by  their 
(432) 


THE  OFFERS  OF  FREE  GRACE  ARE  TO  ALL.   433 

enmity,  not  by  any  want  of  merit  in  Christ ;  by  their 
hardness  of  heart,  not  by  any  lack  of  sincerity  in  the 
offers  of  salvation ;  by  their  wilful  rejection  of  blood- 
bought  mercy,  not  by  the  insufficiency  of  the  work  and 
sufferings  of  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  no  part  of  sound  doc- 
trine that  the  merit  of  our  Saviour  will  be  exhausted 
in  the  salvation  of  those  whom  the  Father  gave  to  the 
Son,  in  the  covenant  of  redemption.  No  branch  of  the 
church  of  Christ  holds  that  Christ's  humiliation  and 
sufferings  would  have  been  less  if  the  number  of  his 
elect  had  been  less ;  nor  that  his  humiliation  and  suf- 
ferings would  have  been  greater  if  his  chosen  had  been 
more  numerous.  The  merit  of  Christ  is  in  its  very 
nature  boundless.  It  possesses  infinite,  inexhaustible 
worth.  The  offer  of  life  is  to  be  made  indiscriminately 
because  God  so  commands,  because  finite  men  can  make 
it  in  no  other  way,  and  because  the  provisions  of  the 
gospel  are  as  well  suited  to  the  wants  of  one  man  as  to 
those  of  another.  The  call  to  men  to  believe  the  gospel 
should  be  earnest  and  urgent,  because  God  so  makes  it, 
because  the  matter  is  of  infinite  moment,  because  men 
are  very  sottish  in  their  sins,  and  so  greatly  need  to  be 
aroused  from  their  guilty  slumbers,  and  because  their 
damnation  slumbereth  not.  The  offer  of  salvation  is 
sincere,  for  God  says  so.  It  is  consistent,  because  God 
never  denies  himself.  It  is  kind,  because  it  is  sent 
in  love,  and  cost  more  than  we  shall  ever  be  able  to 
repay.  This  has  been  and  is  the  doctrine  of  all  pure 
churches. 

The  words  of  the  Synod  of  Dort  are  express :  u  The 

death  of  the  Son  of  God  is  the  only  and  most  perfect 

sacrifice  and  satisfaction  for  sins,  of  infinite  price  and 

value,  abundantly  sufficient  to  expiate  the  sins  of  the 

37 


434  THE  OFFERS  OF  FREE  GRACE 

■whole  world."  Again  :  "  The  promise  of  the  gospel  is, 
that  whosoever  belie veth  in  Christ  crucified,  shall  not 
perish,  but  have  everlasting  life.  Which  promise  ought 
to  be  announced  and  proposed,  promiscuously  and  in- 
discriminntely,  to  all  nations  and  men,  to  whom  God 
in  his  good  pleasure  hath  sent  the  gospel,  with  the 
command  to  repent  and  believe." 

The  London  Baptists'  Confession  says:  "The  preach- 
ing of  the  gospel  to  the  conversion  of  sinners,  is  abso- 
lutely free  ;  no  way  requiring,  as  absolutely  necessary, 
any  qualifications,  preparations,  or  terrors  of  the  law, 
or  preceding  ministry  of  the  law,  but  only  and  alone 
the  naked  soul,  a  sinner  and  ungodly,  to  receive  Christ 
crucified,  dead  and  buried,  and  risen  again;  who  is 
made  a  Prince  and  a  Saviour  for  such  sinners  as 
through  the  gospel  shall  be  brought  to  believe  on 
him." 

Calvin  says  :  "  We  know  the  promises  to  be  effectual 
to  us  only  when  we  receive  them  by  faith  :  on  the  con- 
trary, the  annihilation  of  faith  is  the  abolition  of  the 
promises.  If  this  is  their  nature,  we  may  perceive  that 
there  is  no  discordance  between  these  two  things : 
God's  having  appointed  from  eternity  on  whom  he  will 
bestow  his  favour  and  exercise  his  wrath,  and  his  pro- 
claiming salvation  to  all.  Indeed,  I  maintain  that 
there  is  the  most  perfect  harmony  between  them."  In 
the  Synod  of  Dort  we  have  an  example  of  the  very 
staunchest  Calvinists  who  have  met  in  modern  times ; 
in  Calvin  we  have  the  very  ablest  expounder  of  the  doc- 
trines of  grace  since  the  days  of  Augustine,  if  not  since 
the  days  of  Paul,  yet  they  would  have  salvation  offered 
to  all. 

Few  men  have  written  on  the  death  of  Christ  with 


ARE  TO  ALL  INDISCRIMINATELY.  435 

more  force  than  John  Owen.  His  matured  sentiments 
on  this  subject  have  been  precious  to  the  people  of  God 
for  two  full  centuries.  He  says  that  "it  was  the  in- 
tention and  purpose  of  God  that  his  Son  should  offer  a 
sacrifice  of  infinite  worth,  value,  and  dignity,  sufficient 
in  itself  for  the  redeeming  of  all  and  every  man,  if  it 
had  pleased  the  Lord  to  employ  it  to  that  purpose ; 
yea,  and  of  other  worlds  also,  if  the  Lord  should  freely 
make  them,  and  would  redeem  them.  Sufficient,  we 
say  then,  was  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  for  the  redemption 
of  the  whole  world,  and  for  the  expiation  of  all  the 
sins  of  all  and  every  man  in  the  world.  This  sufficiency 
of  his  sacrifice  hath  a  two-fold  rise.  First,  the  dignity 
of  the  person  that  did  offer  and  was  offered.  Secondly, 
the  greatness  of  the  pain  he  endured,  by  which  he  was 
able  to  bear,  and  did  undergo  the  whole  curse  of  the 
law  of  God  due  to  sin ;  and  this  sets  out  the  innate, 
real,  true  worth  of  the  blood-shedding  of  Jesus  Christ." 
If  any  man  has  a  more  blessed  gospel  than  this  to 
preach,  he  has  not  yet  told  the  world  what  it  is. 

Flavel  says :  "  It  is  confessed,  there  is  sufficiency 
of  virtue  in  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  to  redeem  the  whole 
world." 

Manton  says  :  "  For  these  six  thousand  years,  God 
has  been  multiplying  pardons,  and  yet  free  grace  is  not 
tired.  Christ  undertook  to  satisfy,  and  he  hath  money 
enough  to  pay.  It  were  folly  to  think  that  an  empe- 
ror's revenue  will  not  pay  a  beggar's  debt.  Mercy  is 
an  ocean,  ever  flowing,  yet  ever  full." 

The  Rev.  Thomas  Boston  says,  that  "  there  was 
virtue  and  efficacy  enough  in  Christ's  oblation  to 
satisfy  offended  justice  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world, 
yea,  and  of  millions  of  worlds  more ;  for  his  blood  hath 


436  THE  OFFERS  OF  FREE  GRACE 

infinite  value,  because  of  the  excellency  and  dignity 
of  his  person." 

John  Brown  of  Haddington  :  "  Such  is  the  infinite 
dignity  of  Christ's  person,  that  his  fulfilment  of  the 
broken  law  is  sufficient  to  balance  all  the  debt  of  all 
the  elect,  nay,  of  millions  of  guilty  worlds."  In  proof, 
he  refers  to  Col.  ii.  9 ;  Isa.  vii.  14,  and  ix.  6 ;  Jer. 
xxiii.  6 ;  Zech.  xiii.  7  ;  Titus  ii.  13,  14,  and  Acts  xx.  28. 
Again  he  says,  that  "  In  respect  of  its  intrinsic  worth 
as  the  obedience  and  sufferings  of  a  divine  person, 
Christ's  satisfaction  is  sufficient  for  the  ransom  of  all 
mankind,  and  being  fulfilled  in  human  nature,  is  equally 
suited  to  all  their  necessities."  No  surer,  broader 
foundation  for  a  sincere,  consistent,  general  offer  of 
mercy  and  grace  could  be  desired,  than  is  here  admitted 
to  exist  in  the  finished  work  of  the  Mediator. 

Dr.  "VVitherspoon  lays  down  three  propositions  on 
this  subject,  which  can  hardly  be  questioned.  1.  "  The 
obedience  and  death  of  Christ  are  of  value  sufficient  to 
expiate  the  guilt  of  all  the  sins  of  every  individual 
that  ever  lived,  or  ever  shall  live  on  earth.  This 
cannot  be  denied,  since  the  subjects  to  be  redeemed 
are  finite,  the  price  paid  for  their  redemption  infinite." 
2.  "  Notwithstanding  this,  every  individual  of  the  hu- 
man race  is  not  in  fact  partaker  of  this  purchase,  but 
many  die  in  their  sins,  and  perish  for  ever."  3.  "There 
is  in  the  death  of  Christ  a  sufficient  foundation  laid  for 
the  preaching  of  the  gospel  indefinitely  to  all  without 
exception.  It  is  the  command  of  God  that  this  should 
be  clone.  Markxvi.  15  :  'And  he  said  unto  them,  Go 
ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every 
creature.'  The  effect  of  this  is,  that  the  misery  of  the 
unbelieving  and  impenitent  shall  be  entirely  at  their 


ARE  TO  ALL  INDISCRIMINATELY.  437 

own  door ;  and  they  shall  not  only  die  in  their  own 
sins,  but  shall  suffer  to  eternity  for  the  most  heinous 
of  all  sins,  despising  the  remedy  and  refusing  to  hear 
the  Son  of  God." 

It  may  not  be  generally  known  how  much  the  urgent 
and  indiscriminate  offer  of  salvation  by  grace  has  been 
opposed.  The  great  Secession  from  the  Church  of 
Scotland,  under  Erskine  and  others,  was  in  part  because 
of  the  wrong  done  to  this  blessed  truth  by  the  loose 
men  who  were  the  dominant  party  of  that  day.  At 
least  the  Moderates  then  greatly  impugned  the  doctrine 
of  free  offers  of  life  to  sinners.  It  may  well  be  doubted 
whether  a  scene  partaking  more  of  the  moral  sublime 
has  occurred  in  the  last  hundred  and  fifty  years,  than 
when  Ebenezer  Erskine  arose  in  the  Synod  of  Fife  and 
said :  "  Moderator,  our  Lord  Jesus  says  of  himself,  'My 
Father  giveth  you  the  true  bread  from  heaven.'  This 
he  uttered  to  a  promiscuous  multitude  ;  and  let  me  see 
the  man  who  dare  say  he  said  wrong."  The  heavenly 
sweetness  and  solemnity  of  the  speaker  for  the  time 
hushed  every  controvertist. 

Dr.  Bellamy  says:  "Christ's  merits  are  sufficient 
for  all  the  world,  and  the  door  of  mercy  is  opened  wide 
enough  for  all  the  world  ;  and  God  the  supreme  Go- 
vernor has  proclaimed  himself  reconcilable  to  all  the 
world,  if  they  will  believe  and  repent."  Let  all  sinners 
know  that  if  they  perish,  it  will  not  be  because  Christ 
has  not  died,  nor  because  his  merits  are  not  sufficient 
to  meet  all  the  demands  of  law  and  justice  against 
them,  if  they  will  but  obey  the  gospel  call. 

Matthew  Henry  says :  "The  eleven  apostles  must 
send  others  to  those  places,  where  they  could  not  go 
themselves,  and,  in  short,  make  it  the  business  of  their 
37* 


438         THE  OFFERS  OF  FREE  GRACE 

lives  to  send  the  glad  tidings  of  the  gospel  up  and 
down  the  worlds  with  all  possible  fidelity  and  care,  not 
as  an  amusement  or  entertainment,  but  as  a  solemn 
message  from  God  to  men,  and  an  appointed  means  of 
making  men  happy.  '  Tell  as  many  as  you  can,  and 
bid  them  tell  others,  it  is  a  message  of  universal  con- 
cern, and  therefore  ought  to  have  a  universal  welcome, 
because  it  gives  a  universal  welcome.'  ' 

Dr.  Doddridge :  "  The  commission  Christ  gave  his 
apostles,  though  it  began  at  Jerusalem,  did  not  end 
there ;  nor  was  it  confined  within  the  narrow  limits  of 
Judea ;  but  they  were  appointed  to  go  into  all  the  tvorld, 
and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature." 

Dr.  Scott  says  that  the  apostles  and  their  co-labourers 
"did  testify  to  their  fellow  sinners  everywhere,  that 
'  the  Father  had  sent  the  Son  to  be  the  Saviour  of  the 
world,'  and  to  confer  pardon,  grace,  and  eternal  life, 
on  all  men,  in  every  place,  who  sought  them  from  the 
Father,  through  the  propitiation  .of  the  Son,  by  living 
faith  in  his  name." 

Dr.  Hodge  says  :  "  The  doctrine  of  the  atonement 
produces  in  us  its  proper  effects,  when  it  leads  us  to  see 
that  God  is  just ;  that  he  is  infinitely  gracious ;  that 
we  are  deprived  of  all  ground  of  boasting ;  that  the 
way  of  salvation,  which  is  open  for  us,  is  open  for  all 
men  ;  and  that  the  motives  to  all  duty,  instead  of  being 
weakened,  are  enforced  and  multiplied." 

Haldane  says  that  Christ's  "  sacrifice  could  not  have 
been  sufficient  for  any,  if  it  had  not  been  sufficient  for 
all.  An  atonement  of  infinite  value  was  necessary  for 
every  individual  that  shall  be  saved,  and  more  could 
not  be  necessary  for  all  the  world.  The  intrinsic  suffi- 
ciency of  Christ's  sacrifice  was  doubtless  in  view  in  tho 


ARE  TO  ALL  INDISCRIMINATELY.  439 

divine  appointment  concerning  it.  God  made  provision 
of  such  a  sacrifice  as  was  not  only  sufficient  effectually 
to  take  away  the  sins  of  all  the  elect ;  but  also  sufficient 
to  be  laid  before  all  mankind,  in  the  dispensation  of  the 
gospel.  In  the  gospel  it  was  to  be  declared  to  all  man- 
kind that,  in  their  nature,  the  Son  of  God  had  made 
an  atonement  of  infinite  value,  and  brought  in  ever- 
lasting righteousness,  which  shall  be  upon  all  that 
believe.  This  atonement,  then,  being  all-sufficient  in 
itself,  is  proclaimed  to  all  who  hear  the  gospel.  All 
are  invited  to  rely  upon  it  for  pardon  and  acceptance, 
as  freely  and  fully  as  if  they  knew  that  God  designed 
it  for  them  from  all  eternity,  and  all  who  thus  rely 
upon  it  shall  experience  the  blessing  of  its  efficacy  and 
infinite  value." 

Let  not  perishing  men,  therefore,  stand  at  a  distance 
and  say,  There  is  no  way  of  escape,  no  door  of  mercy 
open,  no  salvation  offered  to  us,  and  we  must  die  in  our 
sins.  The  calls  of  the  gospel  are  as  sincere  on  the  part 
of  God  to  men,  who  refuse  salvation,  as  to  those  who 
accept  it.  That  is,  God  is  infinitely  sincere  in  all  he 
says  and  does. 


CHAPTER    LIL 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  FREE   GRACE   IS   SAFE  AND   REFORMS 

SINNERS 

If  any  doctrine  can  turn  a  serpent  into  a  dove,  or  a 
lion  into  a  lamb,  it  is  the  glorious  doctrine  of  salvation 
by  the  grace  of  Christ.  The  reason  why  Paul  was 
not  ashamed  of  the  Gospel  was  not  because  it  was 
full  of  eloquence,  or  tragical  scenes,  or  a  pleasing 
philosophy,  but  because  it  was  "  the  power  of  God 
unto  salvation  to  every  one  that  believeth."  That 
system  of  truth,  which  reforms  the  vicious,  puts  the 
profane  to  praying,  makes  God-fearing  men  of  drunk- 
ards, subdues  the  passionate,  establishes  every  where 
the  law  of  kindness,  binds  together  the  discordant 
elements  of  society  by  the  golden  chain  of  charity,  and 
brings  to  those,  who  receive  it,  all  the  blessings  of  sal- 
vation, cannot  have  had  its  original  from  earth  or  hell. 
So  Paul  thought.  Hence  his  zeal  for  the  precious 
truth.  "  God  forbid  that  I  should  glory  save  in  the 
cross  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  whom  the  world 
is  crucified  unto  me,  and  I  unto  the  world."  "  What 
things  were  gain  to  me  those  I  counted  loss  for  Christ. 
Yea  doubtless,  and  I  count  all  things  but  loss  for  the 
excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  my  Lord." 
(i  We  preach  Christ  crucified."  "  Other  foundation  can 
no  man  lay  than  that  is  laid,  which  is  Jesus  Christ." 
"  We  are  fools  for  Christ,  we  are  weak,  we  are  des- 
(440) 


THE  TRANSFORMING  POWER  OF  GOSPEL  GRACE.  441 

pised.  Even  to  this  hour  we  both  suffer  hunger,  and 
thirst,  and  are  naked,  and  are  buffeted,  and  have  no 
certain  dwelling-place,  and  labour,  working  with  our 
own  hands,  being  reviled,  persecuted,  defamed,  we  are 
made  the  filth  of  the  world,  and  are  the  offscouring  of 
all  things  unto  this  day."  Men,  who  would  joyfully 
bear  such  things,  prove  the  power  of  the  truth  in  their 
daily  triumphs.  Long  before  Paul's  day,  David  cele- 
brated the  power  of  the  truth  :  "  The  law  of  the 
Lord  is  perfect,  converting  the  soul :  the  testimony  of 
the  Lord  is  sure,  making  wise  the  simple."  One 
entire  New  Testament  church  consisted  of  those,  who 
had  been  "darkness."  Eph.  v.  8.  Another  consisted 
in  part  of  those,  who  had  been  fornicators,  idolaters, 
adulterers,  effeminate,  abusers  of  themselves  with  man- 
kind, thieves,  covetous,  drunkards,  revilers  and  extor- 
tioners. But  when  the  Gospel  reached  them  in  power, 
soon  they  were  washed,  sanctified,  and  justified  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  by  the  Spirit  of  our  God. 
1  Cor.  vi.  9—11. 

The  transforming  power  of  the  Gospel  has  always 
been  celebrated  by  its  friends.  Lactantius  says  :  "  Give 
me  a  man  of  a  passionate,  abusive,  headstrong  dispo- 
sition :  with  a  few  only  of  the  words  of  God,  I  will 
make  him  gentle  as  a  lamb.  Give  me  a  greedy,  ava- 
ricious, tenacious  wretch,  and  I  will  teach  him  to  dis- 
tribute his  riches  with  a  liberal  and  unsparing  hand. 
Give  me  a  cruel  and  blood-thirsty  monster ;  and  all 
his  rage  shall  be  changed  into  true  benignity.  Give  me 
a  man  addicted  to  injustice,  full  of  ignorance,  and  im- 
mersed in  wickedness ;  he  shall  soon  become  just, 
prudent  and  innocent."  Many  writers,  both  ancient 
and  modern,  bear   a   similar  testimony.     When  the 


442  THE  TRANSFORMING  POWER  OF  GOSPEL  GRACE. 

missionaries  first  went  to  Greenland,  for  a  long 
time,  the  savages  mocked  them,  mimicked  their  read- 
ing, singing  and  praying,  attempted  to  drown  all 
devotion  by  hideous  howlings,  and  the  beating  of 
drums,  ridiculed  them  with  the  keenest  sarcasms,  up- 
braided them  with  their  ignorance  because  they  had  to 
learn  the  language  of  their  country,  pelted  them  with 
stones,  climbed  on  their  shoulders,  seized  many  of 
their  goods  and  shattered  them  to  pieces,  and  even 
attempted  to  destroy  the  little  boat,  which  was 
essential  to  the  procuring  of  their  subsistence.  In 
short  they  even  meditated  and  attempted  to  murder 
them.  They  said:  "  Show  us  the  God  you  describe, 
then  will  we  believe  in  him  and  serve  him."  "  We 
have  prayed  to  him  when  we  were  sick,  or  had  nothing 
to  eat,  but  he  heard  us  not."  "  We  need  nothing  but 
a  sound  body  and  enough  to  eat."  "  Your  heaven 
and  your  spiritual  pleasures  may  be  good  enough  for 
you,  but  they  would  be  tiresome  to  us."  Having  for 
five  years  endured  all  obloquy,  peril,  suffering  and 
derision,  these  humble  missionaries  were  at  length  able 
to  preach  to  the  people  and  translate  portions  of  Scrip- 
ture for  their  use.  At  length  one  of  them  spoke  of 
the  redemption  of  sinners  by  Jesus  Christ.  "  He  was 
enabled  to  describe  the  sufferings  and  death  of  the 
Redeemer  with  more  than  ordinary  force  and  energy ; 
and  he,  at  the  same  time,  read  to  them  from  the  New 
Testament  the  history  of  his  agony  and  of  his  bloody 
sweat  in  the  garden.  Upon  this  one  of  their  number, 
named  Kaiarnak,  stepped  up  to  the  table,  and  in  an 
earnest  affecting  manner  exclaimed.  *  How  was  that  ? 
Tell  me  it  once  more ;  for  I  also  would  fain  be  saved.' " 
These  words  aroused  the  missionary  to  new  life  and 


THE  TRANSFORMING  POWER  OF  GOSPEL  GRACE.  443 

energy  and  thus  began  that  wonderful  change,  which 
has  made  Greenland  so  famous  in  the  annals  of  Christi- 
anity. The  history  of  Kaiarnak  in  subsequent  life 
was  not  unlike  that  of  the  fierce,  bloody  Africaner  after 
his  conversion. 

David  Brainerd  also  tells  us  that  the  doctrines  of 
grace  were  above  all  others  blessed  to  the  reformation 
of  his  poor  Indians.  "  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that 
numbers  of  these  people  are  brought  to  a  strict  com- 
pliance with  the  rules  of  morality  and  sobriety,  and  to 
a  conscientious  performance  of  the  external  duties  of 
Christianity  by  the  internal  power  and  influence  of 
divine  truths — the  peculiar  doctrines  of  grace— upon 
their  minds ;  without  their  having  these  moral  duties 
frequently  repeated  and  inculcated  upon  them,  and 
the  contrary  vices  particularly  exposed  and  spoken 
against."  And  he  states  quite  at  length  how  the 
truth  operated  upon  them,  curing  their  strongest  evil 
propensities,  and  completely  reforming  their  lives. 
The  strong  man  armed  may  long  keep  his  goods  in 
peace,  but  when  a  stronger  than  he  cometh,  he  taketh 
away  his  goods.  It  must  be  so.  It  is  God's  eternal 
plan  and  unchangeable  purpose  that  Christ  should 
destroy  the  works  of  the  devil.  How  could  it  be 
otherwise?  For  Davenant  well  says  that  uby  the 
death  of  Christ  we  are  greatly  stirred  up,  both  to  a 
caution  against,  and  a  detestation  of  sin :  for  that 
must  needs  be  deadly,  which  could  be  healed  in  no 
other  way  than  by  the  death  of  Christ."  And  Glas- 
cock says  that  "  the  sufferings  and  obedience  of  Christ 
afford  the  highest  motives  to  dissuade  from  sin  and 
press  to  holiness,  and  lay  a  man  under  an  infinite  ob- 
ligation in  point  of  gratitude  to  live  unto  God.     That 


444  THE  TRANSFORMING  POWER  OF  GOSPEL  GRACE. 

very  grace,  which  enables  him  to  believe  in  Christ, 
equally  inclines  him  to  love  God."  It  always  must  be 
so.  "If  God's  people  at  any  time  fall  into  sin,"  says 
Miller,  "  it  is  not  while  they  are  eyeing  the  perfection 
of  Christ's  righteousness,  but  when  they  lose  sight  of 
it."  A  heart  moved  by  the  love  of  Christ  will  love  to 
make  sacrifices  of  all  it  has  for  his  glory.  Augustine 
beautifully  says  :  "  How  sweet  it  is  to  deny  all  sinful 
sweets  !  how  pleasant  it  is  to  forego  these  sinful  plea- 
sures for  the  sake  of  Christ !" 

fierridge  says  :  "  Morality  can  never  thrive  unless 
grounded  wholly  upon  grace.  The  heathen,  for  want 
of  this  foundation  could  do  nothing  ;  they  spoke  some 
noble  truths,  but  spoke  to  men  with  withered  limbs 
and  loathing  appetites ;  they  were  like  way-posts, 
which  show  a  road,  but  cannot  help  a  cripple  for- 
wards." "  God  has  shown  us  in  his  word  how  little 
human  wit  and  strength  can  do  to  compass  reformation. 
Reason  has  explored  the  moral  path,  planted  it  with 
roses,  and  fenced  it  round  with  motives,  but  all  in  vain. 
Nature  still  recoils ;  no  motives  drawn  from  Plato's 
works,  nor  yet  from  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  will  of  them- 
selves suffice  ;  no  cords  will  bind  the  heart  to  God  and 
duty,  but  the  cords  of  grace." 

The  prophet  Zechariah  (chapters  xii.  and  xiii.)  well 
describes  the  process  of  turning  to  God  through  Jesus 
Christ:  "I  will  pour  upon  the  house  of  David,  and 
upon  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  the  spirit  of  grace, 
and  of  supplications  :  and  they  shall  look  upon  me 
whom  they  have  pierced,  and  they  shall  mourn  for  him, 
as  one  mourneth  for  his  only  son,  and  shall  be  in  bit- 
terness for  him  as  one  that  is  in  bitterness  for  his  first- 
born.    In  that  day  shall  there  be  a  great  mourning  in 


THE  TRANSFORMING  POWER  OF  GOSPEL  GRACE.  445 

Jerusalem  as  the  mourning  of  Hadadrimmon  in  the 
valley  of  Megiddon.  And  the  land  shall  mourn,  every 
family  apart;  the  family  of  the  house  of  David  apart, 
and  their  wives  apart ;  the  family  of  the  house  of 
Nathan  apart,  and  their  wives  apart ;  the  family  of 
the  house  of  Levi  apart,  and  their  wives  apart ;  the 
family  of  the  house  of  Shimei  apart,  and  their  wives 
apart ;  all  the  families  that  remain,  every  family  apart, 
and  their  wives  apart.  In  that  day  there  shall  be  a 
fountain  opened  to  the  house  of  David  and  to  the  in- 
habitants of  Jerusalem  for  sin  and  for  uncleanness. 
And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  saith  the  Lord 
of  hosts,  that  I  will  cut  off  the  names  of  the  idols  out 
of  the  land,  and  they  shall  no  more  be  remembered  ; 
and  also  I  will  cause  the  [false]  prophets  and  the  un- 
clean spirit  to  pass  out  of  the  land."  Here  we  are 
informed  1.  that  God's  Spirit  is  necessary  to  bring 
men  to  true  repentance ;  2.  that  the  Holy  Spirit  takes 
of  the  things  of  Christ  and  shows  them  to  men  for 
their  salvation ;  3.  that  Gospel  truth  when  rightly 
understood  affects  all  classes  alike,  even  David, 
the  king,  Nathan,  the  prophet,  Levi,  the  priest, 
Shimei,  one  of  the  lowest  of  the  people,  men  and  their 
wives ;  4.  that  true  repentance  inclines  people  to  go 
alone  and  weep ;  5.  that  such  weeping  will  lead  the 
soul  to  the  blood  of  Christ ;  6.  and  then  idolatry  and 
error,  sin  and  heresy  will  be  driven  from  among  the 
people.  Such  weeping  for  sin  will  weep  away  all  love 
of  iniquity.  One  believing  view  of  Christ  does  more 
to  mortify  sin  than  all  the  terrors  of  the  Lord.  The 
late  Dr.  Matthews  of  New  Albany  said:  "In  my 
opinion  the  sun  is  not  more  evidently  intended,  nor 
better  calculated  to  warm,  and  enlighten  the  earth  * 
38 


446  THE  TRANSFORMING  POWER  OF  GOSPEL  GRACE. 

the  eye  is  not  more  evidently  fitted  for  the  purposes 
of  vision,  than  are  these  doctrines  to  enlighten  and 
purify  the  mind,  to  make  us,  and  keep  us  sincere, 
humble,  devout,  intelligent  and  useful  Christians." 
Such  testimonies  oudit  to  have  weight. 

The  powerlessness  of  mere  principles  of  morality, 
and  the  mighty  energy  of  Gospel  truths  are  strikingly 
illustrated  in  the  ministry  of  Dr.  Chalmers  at  Kilmany. 
"When  about  to  leave  thatiparish  in  1815,  he  delivered 
an  address  to  the  inhabitants,  in  which  he  said :  "I 
cannot  but  record  the  effect  of  an  actual,  though  unde- 
signed experiment,  which  I  prosecuted  for  upward  of 
twelve  years  among  you.  For  the  greater  part  of 
that  time  I  could  expatiate  on  the  meanness  of  dis- 
honesty, on  the  villainy  of  falsehood,  on  the  despicable 
arts  of  calumny ;  in  a  word  upon  all  those  deformities 
of  character,  which  awaken  the  natural  indignation  of 
the  human  heart  against  the  pests  and  disturbers  of 
human  society.  Now,  could  I,  upon  the  strength  of 
these  warm  expostulations,  have  got  the  thief  to  give 
up  his  stealing,  and  the  evil  speaker  his  censoriousness, 
and  the  liar  his  deviations  from  truth,  I  should  have 
felt  all  the  repose  of  one  who  had  gotten  his  ultimate 
object.  It  never  occurred  to  me  that  all  this  might 
have  been  done,  and  yet  the  soul  of  every  hearer  have 
remained  in  full  alienation  from  God :  and  that  even 
could  I  have  established  in  the  bosom  of  one,  who 
stole,  such  a  principle  of  abhorrence  at  the  meanness 
of  dishonesty,  that  he  was  prevailed  upon  to  steal  no 
more,  he  might  still  have  retained  a  heart  as  complete- 
ly unturned  to  God,  as  totally  unpossessed  of  a  principle 
of  love  to  him  as  before.  In  a  word,  though  I  might 
have  made  him  a  more  upright  and  honourable  man,  I 


THE  TRANSFORMING  POWER  OF  GOSPEL  GRACE.  447 

might  have  left  him  as  destitute  of  religious  principle 
as  ever.  But  the  interesting  fact  is  that  during  the 
whole  of  that  period,  in  which  I  made  no  attempt 
against  the  natural  enmity  of  the  mind  to  God, 
while  I  was  inattentive  to  the  way,  in  which  this  en- 
mity is  dissolved,  even  by  the  free  offer  on  the  one 
hand,  and  the  believing  acceptance  on  the  other,  of 
the  Gospel  salvation,  while  Christ,  through  whose  blood 
the  sinner,  who  by  nature  stands  afar  off,  is  brought  near 
to  the  heavenly  Lawgiver  whom  he  has  offended,  was 
ever  scarcely  spoken  of,  or  spoken  of  in  such  a  way  as 
stripped  Him  of  all  the  importance  of  his  character 
and  his  offices,  even  at  this  time  I  certainly  did  press 
the  reformation  of  honour,  and  truth,  and  integrity 
among  my  people  ;  but  I  never  once  heard  of  any  such 
reformation  having  been  effected  among  them.  I  am 
not  sensible  that  all  the  vehemence  with  which  I  urged 
the  virtues  and  the  proprieties  of  social  life,  had  the 
weight  of  a  feather  on  the  moral  habits  of  my  parish- 
ioners. And  it  was  not  till  I  got  impressed  by  the 
utter  alienation  of  the  heart  in  all  its  desires  and 
affections  from  God  ;  it  was  not  till  reconciliation  to 
him  became  the  distinct  and  prominent  object  of  my 
ministerial  exertions  ;  it  was  not  till  I  took  the  scrip- 
tural way  of  laying  the  method  of  reconciliation  before 
them ;  it  was  not  till  the  free  offer  of  forgiveness 
through  the  blood  of  Christ  was  urged  upon  their 
acceptance,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  given  through  the 
channel  of  Christ's  mediatorship  to  all  who  ask  him, 
was  set  before  them  as  the  unceasing  object  of  their 
dependence  and  their  prayers  ;  in  one  word,  it  was  not 
till  the  contemplations  of  my  people  were  turned  to 
these  great  and  essential  elements  in  the  business  of  a 


448  THE  TRANSFORMING  POWER  OF  GOSPEL  GRACE. 

soul  providing  for  its  interests  with  God  and  the  con- 
cerns of  eternity,  that  I  ever  heard  of  any  of  those 
subordinate  reformations,  which  I  aforetime  made  the 
earnest  and  the  zealous,  but  I  am  afraid  at  the  same 
time,  the  ultimate  object  of  my  earlier  ministrations. 
Ye  servants,  whose  scrupulous  fidelity  has  now  at- 
tracted the  notice,  and  drawn  forth  in  my  hearing  a 
delightful  testimony  from  your  masters,  what  mischief 
you  would  have  done,  had  your  zeal  for  doctrines  and 
sacraments  been  accompanied  by  the  sloth  and  remiss- 
ness, and  what,  in  the  prevailing  tone  of  relaxation,  is 
accounted  the  allowable  purloining  of  your  earlier 
days  !  But  a  sense  of  your  Heavenly  Master's  eye 
has  brought  another  influence  to  bear  upon  you ;  and 
while  you  are  thus  striving  to  adorn  the  doctrine  of 
God  your  Saviour  in  all  things,  you  may,  poor  as  you 
are,  reclaim  the  great  ones  of  the  land  to  the  acknow- 
ledgment of  the  faith.  You  have  at  least  taught  me, 
that  to  preach  Christ  is  the  only  effective  way  of 
preaching  morality  in  all  its  branches.', 


CHAPTER   LIII. 

THE  CONCLUSION. — AN  OFFER  OF  LIFE  MADE  TO  THE 
PERISHING. 

The  end  of  ploughing  and  sowing  is  the  harvest. 
The  end  of  trial  is  reward.  The  end  of  this  discussion 
should  be  salvation.  Respected  reader,  will  you  not 
flee  from  the  wrath  to  come,  and  lay  hold  on  eternal 
life  ?  Do  you  need  assurance  of  a  cordial  reception 
from  Christ  ?  The  Scriptures  give  it  in  every  variety 
of  form.  They  utter  no  uncertain  sound.  Listen  to 
their  voice.  By  Moses  God  says  :  "  Oh  that  they  were 
wise,  that  they  understood  this,  that  they  would  con- 
sider their  latter  end."  Deut.  xxxii.  29.  Moses  was 
hardly  dead  when  by  Joshua  God  called  again : 
"  Fear  the  Lord  and  serve  him  in  sincerity  and  in 
truth."  Josh.  xxiv.  14.  By  that  great  prophet  Elijah 
he  expostulates  thus  :  "  How  long  halt  ye  between  two 
opinions  ?  If  the  Lord  be  God  follow  him,  but  if 
Baal,  then  follow  him."  1  Kings  xviii.  21.  By  David 
he  calls  us  saying :  "  Kiss  the  Son,  lest  he  be  angry, 
and  ye  perish  from  the  way,  when  his  wrath  is  kindled 
but  a  little.  Blessed  are  all  they  that  put  their  trust 
in  him."  Psa.  ii.  12.  By  David's  son,  Solomon,  God 
again  promises  his  love,  saying  :  "  Wisdom  crieth  with- 
out ;  she  uttereth  her  voice  in  the  streets  :  she  crieth 
in  the  chief-places  of  concourse,  in  the  openings  of  the 
gates;  in  the  city  she  uttereth  her  words,  saying, 
38*  (449) 


450  AN   OFFER   OF   LIFE 

How  long,  ye  simple  ones,  will  ye  love  simplicity,  and 
the  scorners  delight  in  scorning,  and  fools  hate  know- 
ledge ?  Turn  you  at  my  reproof:  behold,  I  will  pour 
out  my  Spirit  unto  you,  I  will  make  known  my  words 
unto  you."  Prov.  i.  20 — 23.  By  Isaiah,  animated 
with  the  brightest  hopes  and  the  most  cheering  truths, 
he  says :  "  Ho,  every  one  that  thirsteth,  come  ye  to 
the  waters,  and  he  that  hath  no  money ;  come  ye,  buy 
and  eat ;  yea  come,  buy  wine  and  milk  without  money 
and  without  price.  "Wherefore  do  ye  spend  money  for 
that  which  is  not  bread,  and  your  labour  for  that 
which  satisfieth  not  ?  Hearken  diligently  unto  me, 
and  eat  ye  that  which  is  good,  and  let  your  soul  de- 
light itself  in  fatness.  Incline  your  ear,  and  come 
unto  me :  hear  and  your  soul  shall  live ;  and  I  will 
make  an  everlasting  covenant  with  you,  even  the  sure 
mercies  of  David."  Isa.  It.  1 — 3.  By  the  tender- 
hearted, weeping  Jeremiah  God  says:  "I  will  yet 
plead  with  you,  and  with  your  children's  children  will 
I  plead."  "Wilt  thou  not  from  this  time  cry  unto 
me,  My  Father,  thou  art  the  guide  of  my  youth?" 
Jer.  ii.  9,  and  iii.  4.  By  the  majestic  and  vehement 
Ezekiel,  Jehovah  swears  :  "As  I  live,  saith  the  Lord 
God,  I  have  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  the  wicked, 
but  that  the  wicked  turn  from  his  wicked  way  and  live ; 
turn  ye,  turn  ye  from  your  evil  ways ;  for  why  will  ye 
die,  0  house  of  Israel  ?"  Ezek.  xxxiii.  11.  By  Hosea 
God  lovingly  says:  "I  will  betroth  thee  unto  me  for 
ever  ;  yea,  I  will  betroth  thee  unto  me  in  righteousness, 
and  in  judgment,  and  in  loving-kindness,  and  in  mer- 
cies. I  will  even  betroth  thee  unto  me  in  faithfulness. 
*  *  *  0  Israel,  thou  hast  destroyed  thyself,  but  in  me 
is  thy  help."  Hos.  ii.  19,  20,  and  xiii.  9.     By  Zecha- 


MADE  TO   THE  PERISHING.  451 

riah  God  proclaims  his  grace,  saying,  "  Turn  you  to 
the  strong  hold,  ye  prisoners  of  hope  :  even  to-day  do 
I  declare  that  I  will  render  double  unto  thee." 
Zech.  ix.  12. 

When  Jesus  Christ  came  he  cried  ;  "  Come  unto  me, 
all  ye  that  labour  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give 
you  rest.  Take  my  yoke  upon  you,  and  learn  of  me  : 
for  I  am  meek  and  lowly  in  heart ;  and  ye  shall  find 
rest  unto  your  souls.  For  my  yoke  is  easy  and  my 
burden  is  light."  "Him  that  cometh  unto  me  I  will 
in  no  wise  cast  out."  "  In  the  last  day,  that  great 
day  of  the  feast,  Jesus  stood  and  cried  saying,  If  any 
man  thirst,  let  him  come  unto  me  and  drink."  Matt, 
xi.  28—30,  John  vi.  37,  and  vii.  37.  And  blessed 
Paul  says,  that  "  God  was  in  Christ  reconciling  the 
world  unto  himself,  not  imputing  their  trespasses  unto 
them  ;  and  hath  committed  unto  us  the  word  of  recon- 
ciliation. Now  then  we  are  ambassadors  for  Christ,  as 
though  God  did  beseech  you  by  us,  we  pray  you  in 
Christ's  stead  be  ye  reconciled  to  God."  2  Cor.  v.  19, 20. 
And  as  if  all  these  forms  of  speech  were  not  enough, 
our  Lord  after  his  ascension  to  heaven  spake  words  of 
the  kindest  invitation,  which  are  recorded  in  the  very 
last  book  of  Scripture.  Hear  them :  "  Behold,  I  stand 
at  the  door  and  knock :  if  any  man  hear  my  voice  and 
open  the  door,  I  will  come  in  to  him,  and  will  sup  with 
him,  and  he  with  me."  "  I  Jesus  have  sent  mine  angel 
to  testify  unto  you  these  things  in  the  churches.  The 
Spirit  and  the  bride  say,  Come.  And  let  him  that 
heareth  say,  Come.  And  let  him  that  is  athirst  come. 
And  whosoever  will,  let  him  take  the  water  of  life 
freely."  Rev.  iii.  20,  22,  xvi.  17.  Indeed  the  whole 
tenor  of  the   Saviour's  call  is,  "  Repent  ye  and  be- 


452  AN   OFFER   OF   LIFE 

lieve  the  gospel."  Mark  i.  15.  "  This  is  his  command- 
ment :  That  we  should  believe  on  the  name  of  his  Son 
Jesus  Christ."  1  John  iii.  23.  "  He  that  believeth  on 
the  Son  hath  everlasting  life :  and  he  that  believeth 
not  the  Son,  shall  not  see  life ;  but  the  wrath  of  God 
abideth  on  him."  John  iii.  36. 

These  divine  sentences  are  presented  in  one  un- 
broken connection  that  you  may  see  how  rich  is  the 
variety  of  forms,  in  which  perishing  sinners  are  called 
to  light  and  life.  They  are  commanded,  invited,  be- 
sought, warned,  threatened,  wooed  by  promises,  allured 
by  kindnesses,  and  pointed  to  the  coming  wrath,  and 
all  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  them  to  Christ. 

There  has  been  much  said  about  the  warrant  for  be- 
lieving in  Christ.  But  sinners  need  no  warrant  for 
their  faith  beyond  what  God's  word  has  given.  Traill 
says  :  "  This  is  the  call  of  the  gospel,  he  that  dares 
trust  Christ  with  his  soul  upon  the  warrant  of  the  gos- 
pel shall  be  saved  for  ever.  The  Lord  tries  people 
this  way.  We  have  no  more  to  do  but  to  take  pen 
in  hand,  and  say,  Amen,  0  Lord :  it  is  a  good 
bargain  and  a  true  word,  and  I  will  trust  my  soul  on 
it."  iSo  man  requires  any  other  authority  than  that 
of  his  Maker  for  doing  anything.  "What  was  Abra- 
ham's authority  for  offering  up  Isaac  ?  The  command 
of  God  and  nothing  else.  We  have  the  same  command 
for  believing  in  the  Lord  Jesus.  AVhat  warrant  has 
any  man  for  going  to  an  entertainment  ?  If  he  has 
the  invitation  of  him,  who  makes  the  feast,  that  is 
enough.  It  is  folly  to  seek  any  other.  Well,  God 
says,  "  Come,  for  all  things  are  now  ready."  When 
a  wife  beseeches  her  husband  not  to  herd  with  the 
worthless  and  drunken,  can  he  be  at  any  loss  to  know 


MADE  TO  THE   PERISHING.  453 

■what  conduct  will  please  her  ?  When  a  government 
connects  the  heaviest  penalties  with  a  course  of  beha- 
viour, do  we  need  any  other  helps  to  know  its  will  ? 
Now  God  has  heaped  offer  upon  offer.  He  has 
pledged  his  word  before  the  universe.  He  has  bound 
himself  by  his  oath.  He  is  the  God  of  truth  and 
cannot  lie.  Yea,  he  spared  not  his  own  Son,  but 
delivered  him  up  for  us  all.  That  Son  has  suffered  all 
and  done  all,  that  was  necessary  for  our  complete 
restoration ;  and  the  Spirit  of  Christ  has  gone  forth 
calling  men  to  repentance.  Messengers,  who  them- 
selves were  once  condemned  and  afterwards  obtained 
mercy  without  any  merit  of  their  own,  have  been  sent 
abroad  all  over  the  earth,  and  commanded  to  make 
an  urgent  and  indiscriminate  offer  of  grace  to  all 
the  rebellious,  who  will  throw  down  their  arms, 
and  receive  a  pardon  bought  with  blood.  Many 
millions  of  our  race  have  sought  and  found  salva- 
tion. Indeed  from  the  days  of  our  first  parents 
to  this  hour,  there  has  been  a  long  line  of  sinners 
redeemed  and  saved  by  the  blood  of  Jesus  and  the 
grace  of  God.  Each  one  of  these  is  a  monu- 
ment of  the  rich,  free,  saving  mercy  of  Jehovah. 
Each  one  testifies  how  freely  Jesus  will  forgive. 
Does  any  one  wish  to  know  how  God  will  treat 
returning,  penitent  sinners  ?  Let  him  behold  the 
loving-kindness  of  the  Lord  to  the  thousands  and 
ten  thousands  of  his  murderers  in  Jerusalem,  who 
soon  after  his  ascension  to  glory  sought  and  obtained 
full  pardon.  Not  one  of  all  our  race  has  ever 
been  recovered  from  the  ruins  of  the  apostacy, 
who  does  not  stand  to  tell  how  rich  are  the  drops 
of  atoning  blood,  how  ample  is  the  robe  of  Christ's 


454     AN  OFFER  OF  LIFE  MADE  TO  THE  PERISHING. 

righteousness,  how  kind  is  the  Father  of  mercies, 
how  loving  is  the  Holy  Spirit,  how  free  and  abun- 
dant is  the  grace  of  God.  Authority  for  laying 
hold  of  salvation  is  found  in  every  call,  command 
and  exhortation  to  turn  and  live.  Come,  come  to 
Jesus  Christ.  Come  all.  Come  now.  With  John 
Brown  of  Whitburn  we  boldly  say  that  "the  vilest 
of  men  have  just  the  same  right  to  Christ  and 
his  merits,  as  the  best  of  men;  a  right  founded 
not  in  their  awakened  desires,  nor  on  anything 
in  themselves,  but  purely,  solely,  entirely  on  the 
free  grace  of  the  Saviour.  We  are  all  sinners, 
though  in  a  greater  or  less  degree;  and  we  all  flee 
to  Christ,  not  as  deserving,  but  as  guilty  creatures." 
The  Lord  justifieth  the  ungodly,  who  believe  in  Jesus. 
0  come  to  Christ  before  it  is  too  late,  lest  like  the 
Emperor  Adrian  when  dying  you  should  exclaim : 
"  0  my  poor  wandering  soul !  alas !  whither  art 
thou  going  ?  where  must  thou  lodge  this  night  ? 
Thou  shalt  never  jest  any  more,  never  be  merry 
any  more."  Will  you  believe  ?  Will  you  be  saved 
by  Jesus  Christ  ?     Will  you  ? 

Now  the  God  of  peace  that  brought  again  from  the 
dead  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  great  Shepherd  of 
the  sheep,  through  the  blood  of  the  everlasting  cove- 
nant, make  you  perfect  in  every  good  work  to  do 
his  will,  working  in  you  that  which  is  well-pleasing 
in  his  sight,  through  Jesus  Christ ;  to  whom  be  glory 
for  ever  and  ever.     Amen. 

THE   END. 


gical  Seminary-Speer  Libj. 


1   1012  01002  8977 


DATE  DUE 

*tmmstm&** 

****** 

Demco,  Inc.  38-293 


